The U.S., Denmark and Greenland have signed an agreement that will be the biggest American strategic gain in the Northern Hemisphere in a generation. The agreement has no expiration date and provides enduring military and security advantages in support of the U.S. national defense while allowing Denmark to retain its sovereignty over Greenland's more than 825,000 square miles of territory. Politics should not cloud this strategic victory for the U.S. which increases NATO security and builds relationships. From basing to overflight rights, the new agreement gives the U.S. broad military access to Greenland.

During the Cold War, the U.S. operated numerous installations in Greenland, but has since reduced its presence to only Pituffik Space Base. The new agreement creates opportunities for the U.S. to expand its activities at Pituffik Space Base and, subject to further agreement on the details, establish defense areas at Narsarsuaq in southern Greenland and Mestersvig in the East. It also sets out a process for additional defense areas and expedited review of proposed unmanned military installations.

Greenland is critical to the defense of the American homeland and the North Atlantic for two reasons. First, it sits on the western edge of the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom gap, a key naval chokepoint. Second, it hosts forward-based radar coverage along the shortest path that Russian ballistic missiles and long-range aircraft would take to reach the U.S. A great-circle route from Moscow to Washington passes near Greenland’s southern tip and is roughly 4,800 miles. For comparison, an aircraft flying from Moscow to Washington by way of Paris would travel over 500 miles farther. What's more, Greenland’s ability to monitor satellites passing over the polar region makes it one of the most valuable pieces of terrain for American missile warning, space surveillance, and future missile-defense systems, including Golden Dome, which the agreement specifically discusses as a purpose of expanded American access.

Furthermore, melting Arctic ice is increasing seasonal access to shipping routes and formerly rugged areas where China has already asserted itself. China’s 2018 Arctic policy calls the country a “Near-Arctic State” and seeks a role in Arctic shipping, infrastructure, and resource development through what it calls a “Polar Silk Road.”

Under the new agreement, American public vessels will receive undersea access within Greenland’s territorial waters, helping the U.S. and its allies patrol and monitor the Arctic as these routes become more accessible. The agreement also limits the opportunities for China and Russia to gain a military foothold in Greenland. Non-NATO states cannot establish military installations or maintain a persistent military presence unless the parties agree. Denmark and Greenland must also screen foreign activity in sensitive sectors, including infrastructure and resource extraction for threats to national security.

Those provisions matter even more if Greenland chooses independence: the agreement requires an independent Greenland to assume its obligations and remain in NATO or apply to join. Finally, the agreement places the United States in a stronger position as Greenland’s resources and the Arctic become more important. Greenland has an estimated 1.5 million metric tons of rare-earth reserves. It also has large deposits or prospects involving copper, nickel, zinc, tungsten, uranium, graphite, platinum-group metals, gold, and iron.

These resources are some of important components of weapons, aircraft, radar, electronics, batteries, motors, and advanced manufacturing. The broader West Greenland-East Canada geological province is estimated to contain 7.8 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and 91.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Although the agreement does not outright give the U.S. ownership of Greenland’s mineral resources or automatic extraction rights, it does help prevent American competitors, like China and Russia, from getting control of sensitive resource sectors and creates better conditions for future American and allied investment. The U.S. did not seize or purchase Greenland. It secured broad military access, strengthened the defense of North America, and placed enduring restrictions on non-NATO countries establishing a military foothold on the island.

The people of Greenland retain the right to decide their political future, while the agreement is designed to preserve American access if they choose independence. Whatever one thinks of the politics that led here, those are substantial gains and a strategic U.S. victory. John Spencer is the chair of War Studies at the Madison Policy Forum, where Frank Viola is a fellow.