The Race for Greenland's Rare Earths

Diplomacy and International Relations · Jun 27, 2026 · 20m

A tiny island of just over 56,000 people has quietly become the most strategically contested territory in the Northern Hemisphere. In this bonus episode we map out why the United States, China, and Russia are suddenly tripping over themselves to reach Greenland — starting with the cold logic of the map. We trace the GIUK gap and the radar perched at the top of the world, then descend beneath the melting ice to the real prize: rare earth elements, the building blocks of every EV motor, wind turbine, and F-35. From there the story turns into something stranger than geopolitics — a single…