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On top of this, Greenland’s resource wealth is immense.
除此之外，格陵兰岛的资源财富是巨大的。
It has known reserves of 43 of the 50 minerals deemed “critical” by America’s government, including probably the largest
deposits of rare earths outside China.
它拥有被美国政府评为50种“关键”矿物中的43种的已知储量，其中包括可能是除中国以外最大的稀土矿藏。
These are crucial to military kit and green-energy equipment.
这些矿物对于军事装备和绿色能源设备至关重要。
Wells off Greenland’s coast could yield 52bn barrels of oil, about 3% of the world’s proven reserves, according to an estimate
in 2008 by the US Geological Survey.
据美国地质调查局2008年的一项估计，格陵兰岛海岸附近的油井可能产出520亿桶石油，约占全球已探明储量
的3%。
Greenland’s resources have gone relatively unexploited owing to the difficulty of operating in the territory’s harsh, remote areas.
格陵兰岛的资源相对未得到开发，因为在该岛的艰苦、偏远地区进行作业存在困难。
Four-fifths of the island is covered by ice.
格陵兰岛的五分之四被冰雪覆盖。
There are not even roads linking settlements.
定居点之间甚至没有道路连接。
And the government banned oil exploration in 2021.
并且政府在2021年禁止了石油勘探。
But as the climate warms, the minerals become both more accessible and more valuable.
但是随着气候变暖，这些矿物变得更容易获取，也更有价值。
Already, perhaps the greatest resource rush ever seen, on a per-person basis, is under way.
或许有史以来规模最大的（就人均而言）资源抢夺已经开始了。
Firms are drilling at around 170 sites, up from 12 a decade ago.
各大公司正在大约170个地点进行钻探，而十年前只有12个钻探点。
From whom could the island be bought?
这座岛屿可以从谁那里买到？
In 2009 Denmark all but granted Greenland the right to declare independence should its people choose such an option in a
referendum.
2009年，丹麦几乎准允了格陵兰岛宣布独立的权利，只要居民在全民公投中选择独立。
The island’s nationalist government would very much like to exercise this right.
该岛的民族主义政府非常希望行使这一权利。
At the same time Denmark granted the territory control of its own natural resources (though as its revenues go up, its block
grant from Denmark goes down).
同时，丹麦准允格陵兰岛自行控制岛上的自然资源（尽管随着岛的收入增加，丹麦给予的整笔拨款会减少）
。
Any purchase, therefore, should not be from Denmark, which really would be colonialist, but from the islanders themselves.
因此，任何购买都不应该是从丹麦手中购买（这样是殖民主义的），而应是从岛民手中购买。
If America offered merely our crude valuation of the flow of future taxes, it would amount to nearly $1m per inhabitant.
如果美国的报价仅仅是我们前文对未来税收的粗略估值（注：即500亿美元），那么就相当于给每个居民近
100万美元。
Given the territory’s riches and importance, America could probably make every Greenlander a multimillionaire and still benefit
enormously from the purchase.
鉴于该岛的丰富资源和重要性，美国或许可以让每个格陵兰人都成为千万富翁，但仍然可以从购买中获得巨
大利益。
Romantics and nationalists would doubtless call such an arrangement grubby.
浪漫主义者和民族主义者无疑会称这样的安排是卑鄙的。
Couldn’t the island go it alone?
这座岛屿难道不能独自发展吗？
After all, the 380,000 citizens of Iceland manage well enough.
毕竟冰岛的38万公民就把自己管理得挺好。
Greenland could host more American military bases at the same time as exploiting its natural resources on its own terms.
格陵兰岛可以在根据自己的主张开发岛上自然资源的同时，容纳更多的美国军事基地。
Why abandon your identity and subject yourself to political control from Washington?
为什么要放弃自己的身份，让自己受到来自华盛顿的政治控制？
But natural-resource bonanzas bring risks, too.
但是自然资源带来的繁荣也有风险。
One is corruption that prevents the benefits from being divided fairly.
一个风险是腐败，会阻止利益的公平分配。
It is unclear whether 56,000 people can govern effectively in the presence of an immense windfall: imagine an English town
council being given Saudi Arabia’s oilfields.
5.6万人在巨额的飞来横财面前能否有效治理都是不清楚的：想象一下某个英国城镇议会得到了沙特阿拉伯的
油田。
Extracting minerals means mass immigrant labour.
开采矿产意味着需要大量的移民劳动力。
National security is no longer just about the risk of invasion but also forestalling hybrid warfare, from sabotage to propaganda
on TikTok.
国家安全不再仅仅是关于被入侵的风险，还包括预防各种类型的战争，从蓄意破坏到TikTok上的宣传。
Selling to America up front would bring the full might of America’s administrative and security apparatus to the territory, while
guaranteeing—if your columnist’s advice was followed—an equal distribution of the windfall.
直接卖给美国会把美国的行政管理和安全机构的强大力量带到格陵兰，同时保证飞来横财的平等分配（如果
听从笔者建议的话）。
Respecting Greenland’s right to self-determination means respecting its citizens’ right to consider such an offer, which could be
put to a referendum.
尊重格陵兰的自决权意味着尊重其公民考虑这一交易的权利，最后可能在全民公投中决定。
For the choice to be free, Mr Trump would have to retract his threat of force.
为了让选择是自由做出的，特朗普将必须收回他的武力威胁。
He should do so—and then try putting some red meat in front of the polar bear.
他应该这么做，然后再试着在北极熊面前放一些红肉。（注：比喻给格陵兰人提供一些利益诱惑。）
