Under President Donald Trump, Greenland has gone from the margins of the world to one of its most pressing issues, yet the wider public remains largely unaware of the tectonic political shifts that have brought the island to this position.

Greenland was granted home rule by Denmark in 1979, entailing significant autonomy. Its politics came to be dominated by two social democratic establishment parties for decades, until a sudden shift led to their collapse in support in the last election. For the first time in Greenland’s history, significant momentum is behind the prospect of independence, which some believe could be of major benefit to the United States.