Trump's new Monroe Doctrine

The Arctic is about to become a flashpoint in the rivalry between America and the China-Russia axis

I’ve written for UnHerd about Trump’s talk about annexing Greenland — by force if necessary — and what it tells us about Trump’s foreign policy vision and the coming Arctic race:

Recently, the president-elect sparked yet another frenzy in Europe by expressing his desire to annex Greenland, a Danish autonomous territory, to the United States, calling it an “absolute necessity.” “We need Greenland for national security purposes”, he declared. “People really don’t even know if Denmark has any legal right to it, but if they do, they should give it up because we need it for national security”. He further suggested that economic or military coercion might not be off the table in securing control over the world’s largest island.

Far from being idle musings, Trump’s statements underscore the idea that Greenland is a vital part of the longstanding US ambition to strengthen its Arctic foothold and thereby counter the encroaching presence of Russia and China. In this sense, Trump’s talk of annexation and even military intervention, neither of which are likely to happen, risks being a distraction from the wider geopolitical dynamic at play: the scramble for the Arctic, one of the new “Great Games” of the 21st century and one that is already playing out.

To play this game, the US doesn’t actually need to seize physical control of Greenland. It already wields significant influence there under a 1951 treaty with Denmark: it bears substantial responsibility over Greenland’s defence, and operates a major base on the island — Pituffik Space Base (formerly Thule Air Base) — a critical component of its missile defense system. Any push to expand its military presence would face little resistance from Denmark, given its Atlanticist alignment and wariness of Russia. An independent Greenland would be even weaker against US demands — despite its premier claiming that Greenland “will never be for sale”.

In short, Trump’s empty talk of military intervention shouldn’t blind us to the very real fact that the Arctic is about to become a flashpoint in the rivalry between America and the China-Russia axis. The rhetoric is useful, though, as it indicates his administration’s potential foreign policy direction. Taken with his other recent expansionist claims, which also include the Panama Canal and even Canada, his Greenland message points to an attempt to deal with America’s declining global status and unsustainable imperial overreach. It all suggests the recalibrating of US priorities toward a more manageable “continental” strategy — a new Monroe Doctrine — aimed at reasserting full hegemony over what it deems to be its natural sphere of influence, the Americas and the northern Atlantic.

This approach would attempt to balance those imperialist tendencies still very much present among the US establishment (and in Trump himself) with a more “realist” understanding of the world’s multipolar dynamics.

Read the article here.

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Thomas Fazi

Website: thomasfazi.net

Twitter: @battleforeurope

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