WASHINGTON (February 12, 2026) – NATO is stepping up its Arctic security despite a growing rift between the U.S. and European allies over Greenland. This initiative, called Arctic Sentry, aims to protect NATO members and maintain stability in one of the world’s most strategically significant and environmentally challenging areas.
Enhancing NATO’s presence in Greenland was suggested by allies to diffuse the tensions over the country after U.S. President Donald Trump stated that Russia or China might seize it. After meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in January, Trump announced that a framework for a future agreement on Greenland and the entire Arctic region had been drafted.
GW experts are available for analysis on these developments.
Bob Orttung is a professor of Political Science and International Affairs, and director of the Elliott School's Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies. He has spent extensive time conducting field research in post-Soviet Eurasia and is currently working on identity politics and political system change, with a special focus now on public opinion dynamics in Russia and Ukraine. His work has won two prizes from the American Political Science Association and includes the books The Zelensky Effect and Patronal Politics. On this development, Orttung, says, “NATO faces many challenges in the Arctic: Russian aggression, Trump's efforts to grab Greenland, and the urgent need to develop a coherent strategy to deal with the region. How the Alliance addresses these challenges will shape the future of the high north and the Atlantic partnership for decades to come.”
Erwan Lagadec is an associate research professor of international affairs at the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. Lagadec is an expert on NATO and has taught classes on NATO’s strategic challenges and the Western responses to Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy. Lagadec’s research interests also include NATO projecting stability, sub-national transatlantic relations, and the politics of aid. Lagadec has looked closely at the idea of "Global NATO" and an "Alliance of democracies" as well as NATO's role in the Indo-Pacific.
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