Space Force can bolster Greenland ties by buying local for Arctic base

The latest U.S. Space Force Base is located in northern Greenland, 750 miles north of the Arctic Circle. It sits on land the indigenous Inuit call Pituffik.

The site has been strategically critical to the U.S. since the Second World War when Greenland was a Danish colony and Denmark was controlled by Nazi Germany. During the war, Secretary of State Cordell Hull and Danish Envoy Henrik Kauffmann concluded a security agreement by which the U.S. would “have the right to construct, maintain and operate such landing fields and sea plane facilities and radio and meteorological facilities as may be necessary.”

The Agreement also provided that the U.S. “respect all legitimate interests in Greenland …pertaining to the native population.” Soon after the establishment of Thule Air Base in 1952, the indigenous population was forcibly relocated by the Danish colonial administration. Pituffik was renamed Thule, and became America’s northernmost military installation, including a deepwater port and a 10,000 foot runway.

In subsequent years, the two nations concluded further international agreements pertaining to the construction, maintenance and operation by the U.S. of military facilities in Greenland. The arrangements served U.S. and Allied security interests well, through World War II, the Cold War and into the current geopolitical era.

The war in Ukraine, Russia’s Arctic presence, China’s quest for high north resources, and climate change have further enhanced the strategic value of Greenland to the U.S.. A trilateral U.S.-Denmark-Greenland Joint Committee was formed in 2004, with the Government of Greenland becoming an equal partner in the cooperation, and the American Air Base at Thule was uppermost on the agenda.

The governments agreed that for base maintenance and expansion, services would be procured directly from Danish/Greenlandic sources. This was confirmed in American law via a 2022 U.S. Court of Claims case holding that Greenlandic offerors must be accorded priority in U.S. government solicitations pertaining to the base.

On April 6, 2023, Thule reverted to its former indigenous Inuit name Pituffik and became home to the U.S. Space Base including the 821st Space Base Group, the 12th Space Warning Squadron and 23rd Space Operations Squadron enabling force projection, space superiority and Arctic scientific research.

“This renaming represents our wish to celebrate and acknowledge the rich cultural heritage of Greenland and its people,” Chief of Space Operations U.S. Space Force Gen. Chance Saltzman said at the ceremony.

U.S. Ambassador Alan Leventhal also acknowledged that the creation of this base “caused the movement in the 1950s of the community who called this place home, resulting in hardship and pain for those people and their descendants.”

Those descendants, among many Greenlanders, have been thinking about independence from Denmark, America’s NATO ally. On April 28, 2023, a Greenland Government Commission submitted a draft Constitution to the Parliament at Nuuk.

General Saltzman observed that “renewed strategic competition in the Arctic can be expected with Russia’s historically significant presence in the region and the People’s Republic of China self-proclaimed near-Arctic power, seeking opportunities to expand its influence.” Because of the geopolitics of our time, the U.S.-Greenland partnership is again a strategic priority. And by virtue of longstanding commitment and moral obligation, it merits strong American support.

A first step is to abide by international agreements and U.S. law which provide that services for American military bases, including our new Space Force, be procured directly from Greenlandic companies. This small step would yield substantial dividends including good will.

As the world’s largest island evolves to an independent state, the citizens will have choices including strategic partnerships. Cementing that partnership now by supporting indigenous Greenlandic business, is in the American interest.

Charles C. Adams, Jr. is a partner in the law firm Orrick, Herrington, Sutcliffe LLP and a former U.S. Ambassador to Finland.

Charles H. Norchi is the Benjamin Thompson Professor at the University of Maine School of Law

美国最新的太空部队基地位于格陵兰岛北部，北极圈以北750英里处。它坐落在当地因纽特人称之为皮图菲克（Pituffik）的土地上。

自二战时期格陵兰岛还是丹麦殖民地，而丹麦又被纳粹德国控制以来，该地点对美国而言就具有重要的战略意义。战争期间，美国国务卿科德尔·赫尔和丹麦特使亨里克·考夫曼达成了一项安全协议，根据该协议，美国“有权建造、维护和运营必要的机场、水上飞机设施以及无线电和气象设施”。

该协议还规定，美国“尊重格陵兰岛上所有与原住民有关的合法权益”。1952年图勒空军基地建立后不久，丹麦殖民当局强行迁走了当地原住民。皮图菲克被更名为图勒，成为美国最北端的军事设施，包括一个深水港和一条10000英尺长的跑道。

此后数年，两国就美国在格陵兰岛的军事设施的建设、维护和运营达成了更多国际协议。这些安排在二战、冷战以及当今地缘政治时代都很好地维护了美国及其盟国的安全利益。

乌克兰战争、俄罗斯在北极地区的存在、中国对高纬度资源的渴求以及气候变化，进一步提升了格陵兰岛对美国的战略价值。2004年，美丹格陵兰三方成立了联合委员会，格陵兰政府成为该委员会的平等伙伴，而位于图勒的美国空军基地则是委员会的首要议题。

两国政府一致同意，基地维护和扩建所需的服务将直接从丹麦/格陵兰采购。2022年美国联邦索赔法院的一项裁决确认了这一立场，该裁决认定，在与该基地相关的美国政府招标中，格陵兰供应商必须享有优先权。

2023 年 4 月 6 日，图勒恢复了其原有的因纽特人名称 Pituffik，并成为美国太空基地的所在地，其中包括第 821 太空基地大队、第 12 太空预警中队和第 23 太空作战中队，从而实现了力量投射、太空优势和北极科学研究。

“此次更名代表了我们希望庆祝和认可格陵兰及其人民丰富的文化遗产，”美国太空部队太空作战部长钱斯·萨尔茨曼将军在仪式上说。

美国大使艾伦·莱文塔尔也承认，该基地的建立“导致了 20 世纪 50 年代居住在此地的社区的迁徙，给这些人及其后代带来了苦难和痛苦”。

这些后裔，以及许多格陵兰人，一直在考虑脱离美国的北约盟国丹麦而独立。2023年4月28日，格陵兰政府委员会向努克议会提交了一份宪法草案。

萨尔茨曼将军指出，“鉴于俄罗斯在该地区历史上举足轻重的地位，以及自诩为近北极强国的中华人民共和国正寻求扩大其影响力，北极地区的战略竞争势必会再次升温。”鉴于当今的地缘政治格局，美格伙伴关系再次成为一项战略要务。基于双方长期以来的承诺和道义责任，这一伙伴关系理应得到美国的大力支持。

第一步是遵守国际协议和美国法律，这些协议和法律规定，包括我们新成立的太空部队在内的美国军事基地的服务必须直接从格陵兰公司采购。这一小步将带来丰厚的回报，包括赢得国际好感。

随着世界最大岛屿格陵兰岛发展成为一个独立国家，其公民将拥有包括战略伙伴关系在内的多种选择。通过支持格陵兰岛本土企业来巩固这种伙伴关系，符合美国的利益。

小查尔斯·C·亚当斯是 Orrick, Herrington, Sutcliffe LLP 律师事务所的合伙人，也是美国前驻芬兰大使。

查尔斯·H·诺奇是缅因大学法学院的本杰明·汤普森讲席教授。