Greenland should make 'rogue state' go away

United States politicians have habitually branded nations they dislike as "rogue states", accusing countries that oppose US ambitions of destabilizing behavior while ignoring their own country's egregious transgressions. This hypocrisy is once more in the spotlight with the covetous eye the US has cast on Greenland, where recent remarks by visiting US Vice-President JD Vance laid bare the US administration's imperial arrogance and its dangerous military expansionism across the Arctic region.

Vance's comments during his Greenland visit revealed the ugly truth behind the US' Arctic ambitions. His patronizing declaration that Denmark had "not done a good job by the people of Greenland" and that the territory would be better off under US "protection" demonstrated breathtaking disrespect for the people of Greenland. This condescension was particularly galling given that Greenland already falls under NATO's security umbrella.

The vice-president's fearmongering about Chinese ambitions in Greenland was especially cynical. "We can't just bury our head in the sand — or, in Greenland, bury our head in the snow — and pretend that the Chinese are not interested in this very large landmass," Vance said in his remarks at the US' Pituffik Space Base. This fabricated threat narrative collapses under the slightest scrutiny. China has never tried or threatened to seize Greenland. The same cannot be said of the US, whose president has openly discussed the US acquiring the territory "one way or another".

Despite Vance's scaremongering, the US' true motives were laid bare by National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, who dispensed with Vance's pretenses and admitted: "This is about shipping lanes. This is about energy. This is about fisheries." His candor revealed what Vance would not — that America's Arctic push is fundamentally about resource extraction and military dominance.

The numbers tell the story. Greenland holds an estimated 11 million tons of rare earth oxides essential for advanced weapons systems and green technology, along with some of the world's largest undeveloped uranium deposits. And as climate change opens new Arctic shipping routes, the US is determined to control these strategic waterways. This explains Washington's massive military buildup in the region, including a $4 billion upgrade to the Thule Air Base to track hypersonic missiles and expanded drone surveillance operations across the Greenland-Iceland-UK gap — a critical choke point for submarines.

The US' Arctic militarization is part of its broader pattern of "rogue state" behavior. The US maintains approximately 800 military bases worldwide, including an expanding network in the Arctic region designed to encircle Russia and contain China. This expansion continues despite growing local opposition in places such as Greenland, where many Inuit communities view the bases as environmental threats and reminders of colonial occupation. The Pentagon's Arctic strategy explicitly frames the region as a "contested space" requiring US dominance, even as it destabilizes what had hitherto been relatively peaceful territory.

What makes the US' conduct particularly egregious is the stark contrast with China's approach. While Washington bullies, threatens and militarizes, Beijing has pursued economic partnerships and infrastructure investments in the Arctic without demanding military access or regime change. China's polar strategy focuses on scientific research and commercial opportunities, not the establishment of military bases or the overthrow of governments.

The "rogue state" label so beloved of the US has always been one of convenience. The US invades sovereign nations. It overthrows governments. It violates international law. And now, with the US leader reiterating on the weekend his earlier threat that the US may not need to use military force to "get Greenland" but the possibility of it cannot be ruled out, it is doing nothing but trying to strong-arm Greenland while pretending to be its savior.

The irony is that if any country fits the definition of a "rogue state", it is the US. It has become precisely what it claims to oppose — an unpredictable, expansionist power that disregards international norms when they conflict with its interests. From illegal invasions to drone assassinations to unilateral sanctions, Washington has compiled a record of lawlessness that dwarfs the list of alleged crimes it ascribes to the "rogue states" it designates.

Until Washington changes course, its claims to moral leadership will ring as hollow as Vance's patronizing lectures to the people of Greenland.