A Failed Effort in Resurrecting Imperialism

Donald Trump takes back claims on Greenland.

via Pixabay seth7225

Trump has been clear about setting his eyes on Greenland. With the melting of its ice caps and its strategic positioning, Greenland has become an increasingly attractive objective for the US president. 

In AHUS’ January 12 publication, Zinthia Álvarez Palomino spoke about the toppling of the Venezuelan government and argued,  “it enables a more rigorous analysis of how sovereignty, justice, and legitimacy are unevenly distributed across global power relations rooted in the historical subordination of Abya Yala, especially to the United States.” 

The effort to take Greenland is an extension of this claim. It requires an in-depth look at not only the “why” but also the “how”.

The propaganda machine has been halted temporarily. Trump, Stephen Miller, and the rest of the administration have been clear about their perspective: “Greenland should be part of the United States. The United States is the power of NATO.” It is this belief, the subordination of the world to the US, that persists. NATO’s creation was predicated upon avoidance. The avoidance of another world war was paramount, and superpowers agreed that they would protect themselves from each other. Now, Trump has already begun to say that the United States hasn’t benefited from its participation in NATO, which we have. After the September 11th attacks, the United States invoked article five of NATO. Allies, for the first and only time since NATO was formed, utilized Article 5. In the years that followed NATO formed their first ever terror operations–to ensure the skies over the States were safe and the other to enact anti-terrorist activity at sea.

Miller seems to consider the US as the only superpower. In a rant with CNN’s Jake Tapper, it was unclear if he was discussing Venezuela or Greenland, but he did share this–a perspective that makes it easy to understand the demand for more land. “We’re a superpower, and under President Trump, we are going to conduct ourselves as a superpower.”

Targeting Greenland is an exercise in expansionism. It’s an aberration of sovereignty and a denial of justice. Greenlanders don’t want it. US citizens don’t want it. NATO doesn’t want it. But, with a president who treats the world like a monopoly, none of this matters.

Presenting it as “security”, the US has pulled another ragged page from a familiar novel: we are in danger, and everything our military does is in pursuit of safety. Efforts include defending against Russia and China, names that consistently bring fear to the United States.  After centuries of being marketed as threats, these names are now reliable triggers;  the administration knows that simply uttering them will rally their “fanbase” into a frenzy.

The Subordination to the United States

The how is clear. Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security, Stephen Miller, puts it succinctly, “No one is going to fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland.”

In the same interview with Jake Tapper, Miller said the quiet part out loud, “It is absurd that we would allow a nation in our own backyard to become the supplier of resources to our adversaries but not to us. To hoard weapons from (he probably meant for) our adversaries. To be able to be positioned as an asset against the United States rather than on behalf of the United States. The Monroe Doctrine and the Trump Doctrine [are] all about securing the national interest of America.”

The Monroe Doctrine’s manifest destiny-like approach to the Western Hemisphere is old, outdated, and soundly racist, and it circumvents the democracy the US is supposed to stand for. The Trump Doctrine does the same. 

Some countries disagree. Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, and Denmark all began to send military forces to the Arctic island. The United Kingdom has pledged to send troops. Yet and still, the likelihood of NATO forces engaging in a war with the U.S is low. 

The Uneven Distribution of Global Power

Trump’s desire to resurrect expansionism must be a result of his failure as a real estate mogul. His life, previous to assuming the presidency, was solely about extending his influence over land. Seeing countries as another real estate deal, Trump has taken strongman tactics to control them. 

The pursuit is not about safety and security. The United States already has a military base in Greenland. And, according to a 1951 treaty, the US has the right to expand its military facilities on the island. Instead, it’s about buying and selling–the rare earth minerals below Greenland’s land and the gas. It’s about extending the States’ imperialism.

We Will Remember 

Most recently, at Davos, Trump seemed to back off from his pursuit of Greenland. After a meeting with the leader of NATO, Mark Rutte, Trump was promised a “framework of a future deal.” But he did not back away completely, “We want a piece of ice for world protection, and they won't give it." Trump continued, "You can say yes, and we will be very appreciative. Or you can say no, and we will remember."

With French President Macron asserting that he’d prefer respect over bullies, Trump has found himself pushing allies closer to China–a country he purportedly wants to protect the United States from.