Iceland is closer to the halfway line between mainland Europe and North America than it is to Europe. Geologically it is squarely in the middle, being built on the mid-Atlantic ridge. The nearest larger piece of land is Greenland, which is on the North America continental plate.
These facts matter. Iceland is used to being very far from everyone, and able to set its own rules. Because who is going to bother trying to invade?
Ahem. Iceland is a very strategic location in the centre of the Atlantic sea, a good place for Arctic circle expeditions and a half-way stop to Europe. During WW2 it was used as an outpost for supply deliveries to the USSR.
Therefore invading Iceland would be a good call for any large force for strategic purposes.
I think you might also underestimate the influence both Europe and the US are able to place upon it. "Able to set its own rules" is probably a bit of an exaggeration that I would guess is derived from the awful journalism that has recently suggested that Iceland have done "great things" (jail bankers, bail out its own mortgage holders) when the journalism is infact mostly incorrect.
Iceland is really not _that_ different from Europe/US.
None of what you say indicates that Iceland is actually in Europe.
Yes, you're right that it is a convenient waypost between the North America and Europe. But the key point here is between.
You are also right that there is the ability to put pressure on Iceland from lots of places, including the USA and Europe. However compare how much independence Iceland feels with European countries of the same size. In population it is in the middle of Luxembourg, Malta, Jersey and the Isle of Man. Which of those is even remotely comparable?
Iceland has Scandinavian culture and language, its strongest allies remain Norway and Denmark, especially after the U.S. closed their air base on Iceland.
Iceland's like 2.5 hours from Oslo and 3 hours from London or Copenhagen by plane, so it's much more accessible from Europe.
I was in Iceland last year, and met more than one person who expressed a bit of resentment towards the WWII Invasion of Iceland [1] and the subsequent US military presence through the cold war [2], ending only in 2006.
> The invasion force consisted of 746 marines, ill-equipped and only partially trained.
...
> The expedition was organized hastily and haphazardly. Much of the operational planning was conducted en route. The force was supplied with few maps, most of poor quality, with one of them having been drawn from memory. No one in the expedition was fully fluent in the Icelandic language.
...
> The British forces began their operations in Reykjavík by posting a guard at the post office and attaching a flier to the door. The flier explained in broken Icelandic that British forces were occupying the city and asked for cooperation in dealing with local Germans.
Are we sure this wasn't actually a plan for a war comedy film that somebody in the British hierarchy mistook for a serious proposal?
Iceland is closer to the halfway line between mainland Europe and North America than it is to Europe. Geologically it is squarely in the middle, being built on the mid-Atlantic ridge. The nearest larger piece of land is Greenland, which is on the North America continental plate.
These facts matter. Iceland is used to being very far from everyone, and able to set its own rules. Because who is going to bother trying to invade?