Is Greenland the next frontline of great-power competition?
In this episode of Searching for America, Robyn Curnow examines why the Arctic — and Greenland in particular — has moved from geopolitical afterthought to strategic imperative for the United States. As Washington revives a Trump-era, Monroe-Doctrine-style focus on hemispheric control, allies in Denmark and Greenland are left shocked by the tone — and alarmed by what it reveals about American power and insecurity.
We separate Arctic myth from verified reality: Russia’s expanded military posture in the High North, China’s long-term economic and scientific positioning, and the uncomfortable truth about how NATO and the US allowed leverage to build through neglect rather than invasion.
This is not a story about invasion or hysteria. It’s about trade routes, maritime corridors, missile warning systems, melting sea ice, critical minerals, undersea cables, and why the US doesn’t fully trust alliance capabilities to hold Greenland in a crisis.
The Arctic isn’t frozen anymore — politically or strategically. And Greenland sits at the center of a new Cold War that’s unfolding quietly, far from the headlines.
Robyn Curnow’s podcast, “Searching for America”, examines the US from her outsider perspective – as a South African living in the American South.
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