New Delhi, Jan. 19 -- At first glance, Greenland may seem irrelevant to Indian strategic planners. With a population of around 57,000 and located thousands of kilometres from South Asia, it appears far removed from India's immediate concerns. Yet recent developments have revealed how Greenland has become a geopolitical flashpoint, exposing deeper realist dynamics of power competition, resource access, alliance shaping, and strategic positioning among major powers. These developments matter even to distant states because structural shifts in global power reshape the international environment in which all states operate.

Geography as Structural Power

In realist international relations, as articulated by theorists like Kenneth Waltz, state...