Instead of joining the U.S., Greenland should join Canada in an economic union

Photo by Visit Greenland on Unsplash

U.S. president-elect Donald Trump is apparently in an expansionist mood. Coercing Canada to become part of the United States through “economic force” is not the only such threat he has made. Mr. Trump has also revived his idea of taking over the self-governing Danish territory of Greenland, which during his first term he had mused about buying. On Jan. 7, Donald Trump Jr. travelled to Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, to bring attention to his father’s expressed wish to take over the world’s largest island.

Denmark has been put on the defensive, and its government responded by insisting that the territory is not for sale. The head of state, King Frederik X, visually drove home the point that Greenland remains part of Denmark by enlarging the territory’s representation (a polar bear) on the royal coat of arms.

Amid the geopolitical tug-of-war between Washington and Copenhagen over Greenland’s future, one critical fact is often overlooked: It is Greenlanders themselves who will determine their destiny. They have shown little interest in subjugation under a New World imperialist, but they also have a complex and uneasy relationship with their European colonizer. For the government in Nuuk, the path forward is clear — breaking away from the Kingdom of Denmark is essential to addressing historical…