How Greenland Fits Into the Arctic Strategies of the U.S., China, Russia and Canada

The September 22, 2026, agreement between the United States, Denmark, and Greenland expands U.S. military access to the island. It bars non-NATO countries from establishing military installations there and restricts certain foreign investments in mining and critical infrastructure. President Trump’s insistence on greater U.S. control of Greenland is part of a broader Arctic rivalry among the world’s three most powerful militaries: the United States, Russia and China. Canada, with a far smaller military and a focus on defending its own territory, is drawn into the rivalry by geography. The Northwest Passage runs through its Arctic archipelago, and its northern territory…