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lanes. Other powers circled it in the 19th century, while the great naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan urged us to acquire it. We all know the role of Pearl Harbor in World War II, and as the “Crossroads of the Pacific,” Hawaii remains a major economic and military asset.

As for Greenland, the idea of buying it from Denmark is no more ridiculous than any other land purchase we’ve ever made, including of the U.S. Virgin Islands in 1917 … from Denmark.

Greenland has attracted the interest of such estimable American statesmen as Harry Truman and William Seward. Given its strategic location in the Arctic Circle and its wealth of mineral deposits, it’s an alluring proposition.

Geography isn’t everything, but often when it comes to geopolitics, there’s no substitute for cold, hard real estate.

Rich Lowry is editor of the National Review.

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