Relationship dossier
Greenland
United States
Relationship assessment
Practical economic cooperation within Greenland’s limited foreign-policy autonomy
Greenland toward United States
+20Greenland's government has engaged directly with the United States on economic and sectoral cooperation, including through a 2020 memorandum addressing areas such as education, tourism, energy, and mining. Denmark retains responsibility for defense and most foreign affairs.
United States toward Greenland
+25The United States has pursued direct economic and sectoral cooperation with Greenland, including through a 2020 memorandum covering areas such as education, tourism, energy, and mining.
Overall relationship
+20The relationship features practical direct cooperation, especially on economic and sectoral matters, but Greenland's constitutional division of powers places defense and most foreign affairs under Danish responsibility. This supports a cooperative relationship whose scope is more limited than a conventional sovereign-state partnership.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Greenland's self-government allows it to handle many domestic matters, while Denmark retains responsibility for defense and most foreign affairs. Greenland and the United States have pursued direct economic and sectoral cooperation, including a 2020 memorandum covering areas such as education, tourism, energy, and mining. The relationship combines practical cooperation with Greenland's limited authority over core foreign-policy matters.
Key developments
Greenland and the United States concluded a memorandum of cooperation covering areas including education, tourism, energy, and mining.
Major uncertainties
- The scope and implementation of the 2020 cooperation memorandum are unclear.
- The extent of Greenland's independent role in bilateral cooperation beyond domestic policy areas is limited by its constitutional relationship with Denmark.