Keep out: why Greenland is the US military’s new eyes in the Arctic on China
A defence pact that updates and amends the 1951 defence agreement between Denmark and the US allows expansion and modernisation of the Pituffik US Space Force Base in northwestern Greenland and permits additional military bases at Narsarsuaq and Mestersvig, though they will still require approval from Greenland and Denmark. The deal is said to be aimed at Beijing and Moscow and calls for stronger Nato engagement in the Arctic. Narsarsuaq, a settlement of a few dozen people in southern Greenland, has a former civilian airport and US airbase that closed in 1958.
Why it matters: The agreement expands US basing rights in Greenland as part of the wider US-China strategic competition in the Arctic.