Exaggeration and ignorance 'the scramble for the Arctic'
From Wavell Room Audio Reads by Wavell Room
April 29, 2026 · 9 min · Episode 59
About this episode
The episode discusses the geopolitical tensions surrounding the US's interest in Greenland amid claims of Chinese and Russian military presence.
This article is about the so-called 'scramble for the Arctic'. This would be a story of high farce rather than the high North but for threats made by the current US administration to forcibly annex Greenland – the territory of a NATO ally – on the spurious grounds that the island is 'covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place', and America must 'own' Greenland as a matter of security to prevent imagined Russian or Chinese ownership. Republican Senator Randy Fine has introduced a Greenland Annexation and Statehood Act that would authorise the White House to annex Greenland 'by any means necessary'. Control of Rare Earth Elements (REEs) is cited as a key reason why America must annex Greenland, ignoring the wishes of Greenlanders and setting aside what would be a gross assault on Denmark and more widely Europe and NATO. People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in Greenland No Chinese warship has ever visited Greenland. There is no evidence a PLAN nuclear submarine has ever deployed to Greenland waters either. How would it get there and why would it anyway. At the time of writing of this article there are no commercial Chinese ships near Greenland either. The simple…
Topics covered
- Arctic geopolitics
- US foreign policy
- Greenland annexation
- NATO relations
- Chinese influence
- Rare Earth Elements
Keywords
- Arctic
- Greenland
- US administration
- Randy Fine
- NATO
- Chinese ships
- Rare Earth Elements
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: US administration, NATO, People's Liberation Army Navy
Places: Greenland, Denmark, Europe, Arctic, Greenland waters, Greenland
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