Greenland and the Arctic Security of North America

By Bastion Institute · November 13, 2026

Greenland, or Kalaallit Nunaat, is home to about 57,000 people and is a self-governing part of the Kingdom of Denmark, with its right to self-determination recognized in the 2009 Self-Government Act (FactCheck.org). Canada’s own Arctic Foreign Policy describes the “North American Arctic” as Alaska in the west, northern Canada in the centre and Greenland in the east (Global Affairs Canada). For Ottawa and Washington, Greenland is not a distant European question. It sits on the northern approaches to the continent.

2026 made that plain. After a period of public debate over Greenland’s status and its role in U.S. security, the leaders of the United States, Denmark and Greenland signed a trilateral defence agreement in New York on September 22. Greenland’s parliament, Inatsisartut, approved it on November 3 by 16 votes to none, with seven abstentions (Al Jazeera/AP). The Danish parliament’s final vote is scheduled for November 19 (Newsweek).

Geography: the northern approaches

The shortest air and missile routes between Eurasia and much of North America cross the high Arctic. Pituffik Space Base, known as Thule Air Base until 2023, sits on Greenland’s northwest coast about 1,100 km north of the Arctic Circle (Space.com). It hosts the 12th Space Warning Squadron, which operates an Upgraded Early Warning Radar for missile warning and space surveillance (U.S. Space Force), and a satellite control unit. Fewer than 200 U.S. personnel are based there, and in June 2025 responsibility for U.S. operations in and around Greenland moved from U.S. European Command to U.S. Northern Command (Air & Space Forces Magazine).

Pituffik also supports NORAD. NORAD has surged fighters and tankers there, including F-35s, F-16s and KC-135s in October 2025, and in January 2026 U.S. and Canadian aircraft deployed for a long-planned NORAD exercise coordinated with Denmark, with the Government of Greenland informed (Air & Space Forces Magazine).

What the 2026 trilateral agreement does

The agreement amends the 1951 defence agreement, updated in 2004. It allows activities at Pituffik to be modernized and expanded, provides for additional U.S. defence areas at Narsarsuaq and Mestersvig on terms still to be agreed, and bars non-NATO states from establishing military installations in Greenland unless all parties agree. It gives the United States a say over investment in sensitive sectors from outside NATO, NATO partners and the EU. It also reaffirms that Greenland remains part of the Kingdom with the right to self-determination, and stays binding, with Greenland in NATO, if Greenland becomes independent (FactCheck.org).

Assessments differ. The White House says the deal secures permanent U.S. security control over Greenland as part of North America’s strategic defence area. Analysts at CSIS and the Peterson Institute have described it as a modest change from what the 1951 framework already allowed (FactCheck.org). Either way, Greenland’s role in continental defence is now set out in an agreement that Greenland’s own parliament has approved.

The GIUK gap and the North Atlantic

Greenland also anchors the western end of the Greenland–Iceland–United Kingdom (GIUK) gap. In April 2025, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Gen. Christopher Cavoli, told the U.S. Senate that the air and sea space bounding Greenland is “absolutely critical” because it forms the western border of the gap that Russian Northern Fleet submarines transit to reach the Atlantic (The War Zone). NATO launched Arctic Sentry in February 2026, led by Joint Force Command Norfolk, to bring Allied activity in the High North under one operational approach (NATO).

Safety, not only defence

Most days, the Arctic’s hardest problems are about safety rather than combat: search and rescue across vast distances, ships in ice, and environmental response. The 2011 Arctic Search and Rescue Agreement, signed in Nuuk, sets out how Arctic states share this work (Treaty record). Denmark’s first Arctic and North Atlantic package (DKK 14.6 billion) funds three Arctic vessels, long-range drones and satellite capacity, with drones expressly able to support search and rescue and environmental incidents (Government of Greenland). A second package (DKK 27.4 billion) adds a new Joint Arctic Command headquarters in Nuuk, two more Arctic vessels, maritime patrol aircraft, icebreaker access, an air surveillance radar in East Greenland and a North Atlantic undersea cable (Danish Ministry of Defence).

On the Canadian side, the Coast Guard deployed seven icebreakers in the 2025 season, and rescue centres coordinated 294 incidents in its Arctic Region, 147 of them maritime, as of November 20, 2025. The Coast Guard notes rising Northwest Passage traffic from tourism, shipping and adventurers (Canadian Coast Guard). The Arctic Council’s Danish chairship is planning work on cruise and passenger ship incidents (Arctic Council). In Baffin Bay, Davis Strait and Nares Strait, Canadian and Greenlandic waters meet, so safety on one side depends partly on capacity on the other.

Critical minerals and economic security

Greenland’s mineral potential adds an economic security dimension. The Government of Greenland approved the Tanbreez rare-earth mining plan in September 2026 (Belfer Center) and granted a 30-year permit for the EU-backed Amitsoq graphite project in December 2025 (Reuters). In May 2026, the Arctic Allies, including Canada, the Kingdom of Denmark with Greenland, and the United States, tasked experts to coordinate on research security, investment screening and critical infrastructure (Global Affairs Canada). The Belfer Center’s experts also ask how much of the value will stay in Greenland, a question that matters for any durable partnership.

What it means for Canada and the United States

Canada shares a maritime boundary of about 3,000 km with Greenland and has deep Inuit family and cultural links across it (National Defence). Canada is investing $38.6 billion over 20 years in its contribution to NORAD modernization (National Defence), including an Arctic Over-the-Horizon Radar expected to reach initial operational capability by the end of 2029 (National Defence). It opened a consulate in Nuuk in February 2026 (AP) and signed a defence cooperation memorandum with Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands that month (National Defence).

For the United States, Greenland gives warning time and North Atlantic reach. For Canada, it is a neighbour whose sensors, airfields and rescue capacity complement Canada’s own. For both, a consistent theme is that arrangements in Greenland rest on the consent of Greenlanders. Greenland’s 2024 foreign, security and defence strategy is titled “Nothing About Us Without Us” (High North News), and Inuit organizations across the Arctic have called on allies to respect Greenlanders’ right to determine their own future (ITK).

Key takeaways

Greenland is part of the North American Arctic and sits on the northern air, missile and maritime approaches to the continent.
Pituffik provides missile warning, space surveillance and satellite control, and hosts NORAD deployments.
The September 2026 trilateral agreement expands U.S. defence options while reaffirming Greenland’s self-determination; Denmark’s final vote is scheduled for November 19.
Search and rescue, ice navigation and environmental response are shared Canada–Greenland problems, and Danish and Canadian investments are starting to address them.
Durable Arctic security depends on the consent and priorities of Greenlanders and Inuit.

Sources

This Insight was prepared by the Bastion Institute from the public sources listed above, current as of November 13, 2026. Developments after that date, including the Danish parliament’s scheduled vote on the U.S.–Denmark–Greenland agreement, are not reflected.