To promote the rivalry with China, hawkish analysts have been spreading a convenient myth about the Cold War that ignores the serious costs to American society and to the many countries that were devastated by direct interventions and proxy wars.

Although Suriname is one of the smallest countries in the Western Hemisphere, it is gaining importance as it heads in the same direction as neighboring Guyana in becoming one of the world’s newest oil producers.

Investment in Pituffik has been inconsistent, however, and its importance has waned since the Cold War. Renewed attention to Greenland could help the U.S. counter Russia’s growing Arctic dominance and China’s ambitions as a “near-Arctic” power.