Why Greenland? Remote but resource-rich island occupies a key position in a warming world
Why Greenland? Remote but resource-rich island occupies a key position in a warming world
Greenland plays an outsized role in the daily weather experienced by billions of people and in the climate changes taking shape all over the planet.
Hard not to feel like the real motive is to normalize territorial aggression. Sure it's land, and when the ice melts it'll be useful, but nobody behind these policies will live to benefit from that.
No one behind these policies ostensibly believes in climate to begin with. If they were coming out and saying "we want these places for our own so as to preserve our country from climate change" I would actually GAIN respect for the plan. Still the wrong way to do it, but at least it's logical.
I feel reasonably confident that all of this is just ridiculous bullshit thought up by the most moronic people alive.
Here's what I don't like about this whole situation.
This started off as one of Trump's little episodes of dementia where he says something outlandish to get attention and was treated accordingly, with Denmark definitively saying that Greenland was going nowhere.
Now, they're saying that "Greenland independence is possible, but joining the US is unlikely"
This is basically saying "Well, maaaaaybe......". It's capitulating to Trump. It is giving him wiggle room, and it is giving credibility to a ridiculous idea that should be dismissed out of hand. Even if it isn't their intention, Denmark is essentially telling Trump there's a path forward, instead of telling him there's no path. All this is going to do is feed Trump's ego. And it's going to set Trump on a path where he sincerely believes he "deserves" Greenland, if he's not there already.
Denmark needs to make a clear and unequivocal statement that Greenland is a territory of Denmark and will remain that way. Period, full stop. And then kick Don Jr. out of the country to send a statement to him. But the last thing Denmark needs to do is to be giving Trump a path forward, and that's exactly what they're doing by going from "Not gonna happen" to "unlikely".
Denmark blinked. Trump will capitalize.
Well, Denmark has said all along that the fate of Greenland is up to Greenlanders, not Denmark. And that's the truth. Denmark will always welcome Greenland in the realm, but it's ultimately up to them if they want to stay.
At the end of the day, I can't imagine that Greenland would want to leave one of the world's best social systems, including a world-class healthcare system, to join the world's crappiest healthcare system and a non-functional democracy.
Now, Trump may take Greenland by force. That's a whole different story.
To play devil's advocate: Greenland has only like 60,000 people. It's bigger than the France, Germany, Switzerland, the UK, Belgium and Greece combined. It is also seeking independence because they aren't interested in being ruled by a random small European country that tried to sterilize them and steal their resources. Denmark has slowly caved-in to their independence demands because it wasn't interested in being a colonial power. Now it just holds on to it on behalf of NATO.
From a nation-state's point of view, this is an unihabited land with era-defining strategic and economic significance.
The US military has an impossible nut to crack with China. It recognizes that climate change will happen, but is going to position itself to come out ahead from it (if it doesn't destroy us all). It's not confident that it will maintain the global relevance it has today by the mid-21st century.
Why not smash and grab while you can? Create Greater Israel, destroy Iran, take Greenland, control the Panama canal, and most likely give Australia nuclear weapons (and perhaps Japan but not likely). Tell the UN and other international institutions to fuck off if they stop serving your national interests. Turn Europeans into vassal states.
That's the post-liberalism future lf America that I see.
Except this assumes that the US can actually do any of that, which is highly doubtful unless Trump is willing to go all scorched earth. We all know that Trump is a complete nutbag, but I'm not sure about scorched earth.
I don't think so. I think that the old MAGAts running the Pentagon think it's a good idea and Trump is oushing the Overton window for them. I can easily see a path toward US incorporation or domination of Greenland that does from US-backed Greenland independence to strategic and economic alliance to US domination and eventual Peurto Rico kind of status. It would all be political. Denmark can't stop that actually.
Trump is a fucking idiot. He should just proclaim support for Greenland's independence and offer the tiny population some great economic and diplomatic deals to get his way.