When policy makers as diverse yet respectable as senior U.S. senators, European commissioners and EU prime ministers agree that a U.S. annexation of Greenland would spell the end of NATO, I think it’s time to listen. But what does it matter? Why should we care about a 75-year-old document? It’s hard for a post-Cold War generation such as the readers of this newspaper to appreciate the importance of NATO, yet a large reason why Westerners have been able to experience peace as the norm for the last three generations is because of NATO, the oldest major peacetime treaty in the world. An abandonment of this treaty would be an abandonment of the ideals of peace and democracy that, in theory, have been adhered to since the end of World War Two.
Trump says he needs Greenland to ensure Western security against arctic threats from Russia and China, an argument that falls apart when you consider that he seems to have no such desire for security in Eastern Europe where the threat of Russia is not imagined, and a war is being fought in Ukraine on a scale not seen in Europe since World War Two. This allows us to see his plan for what it really is: a return to unabashed imperialism and might-is-right international relations. Trump sees himself, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping as the three kings of the world free to carve up their spheres of influence as they see fit. Trump’s chosen sphere of influence is the Western Hemisphere, justified by the invocation of the Monroe Doctrine, a 19th century piece of foreign policy that states only the United States has the right to meddle in the affairs of the Western Hemisphere. The White House started to advance this agenda first with the capture of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. Their next target is Greenland, the annexation of which would practically invite Russia to expand further into Eastern Europe and China to invade Taiwan.
So how can Europe protect one of its own nations from the threats of its closest ally while upholding the values that that same ally has chosen to abandon? Firstly, stronger denunciations of the U.S.’s violations of international law (use of force in Venezuela and threat of force in Greenland) is needed rather than reluctance to criticise the U.S.. This would reinforce the effectiveness of international law by illustrating how they are not rules to be flouted and countries that do break them suffer serious consequences. Secondly, as of the 15th of January, European troops from various nations are arriving in Greenland, the continued and increased presence of a diverse range of European militaries will both reinforce security and emphasise the falseness of Trump’s claims that Greenland is needed for security reasons as it is already being appropriately protected by various NATO members. Finally, if America continues to ignore international law Europe needs the self-assuredness that it does not need to bend to America’s will for the sake of maintaining cordial relations anymore.
Whether Europe likes it or not, the U.S. has upended the old Western order. For decades Europe has been reliant on the U.S. economically. This has only increased since the Internet Age as almost every major tech company that our economies now rely on are American owned and run for American interests. If nothing else, perhaps Trump’s upheaval of the world order will be a wakeup call to Europe to take control of its own interests.
“… Sorry Mr. Trump, but you have to do better than this if you want to buy Greenland …” by ChristianofDenmark is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0.