Posted on 08/21/2019 4:56:50 PM PDT by libh8er
The diplomatic row that has erupted between Washington and Copenhagen over Greenland is just one part of a broader strategic battle being waged over control of the Arctic, according to one expert.
US President Donald Trump has cancelled a trip to Denmark and launched a war of words with his Danish counterpart, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, after she rejected his idea of the US buying Greenland as "absurd".
Mikaa Mered, professor of polar geopolitics at Paris' ILERI institute of international relations said Trump's unsolicited advances on the autonomous territory were a way to indicate US interest in the resource-rich Arctic -- and to distract from domestic issues.
- Is the US sending a message? -
Mered said Trump's offer to buy Greenland was a signal to Arctic nations and China, which has shown interest in the region, which is crucial for the control of new shipping routes opening up as ice sheets melt because of global warming.
"When it comes to the Russians, (Trump's) logic is to say: 'You won't always be the main power in the Arctic even if you are the chair of the Arctic Council in 2021'.
"And when it comes to the Chinese, the idea is... 'We won't let you get a foothold in Greenland'," Mered said.
He said the US has already increased its presence by re-establishing a consulate in Greenland's capital Nuuk, and helping to finance new airports, education and social programmes.
"The end goal is not to acquire Greenland per se but at least some new territory, some new pieces of land," he said.
Washington could be angling to buy the Gronnedal naval base in southern Greenland, "which the Danes ultimately decided not to sell in late 2017 because the only interested buyers were Chinese" he added.
- What role does Europe play? -
"It's possible that this whole hullabaloo is a political, media and economic test balloon designed to see how strongly Europeans feel about Greenland," Mered said, predicting the row could drag on.
"He will continue to use the case of Greenland, especially since Denmark is a fairly servile ally that won't turn its back on the US because of this."
- What does Trump stand to gain? -
Mered said the issue allows Trump to "make strides in the Arctic and at home".
"Looking at the presidential election, he has everything to gain by carrying on: he gets the Democrats out of the news at a critical time with the start of campaigning for the primaries and he himself is kicking off a bunch of rallies.
"(In the US), nobody knows where Greenland is, how it's run... There are so many things going on, he can continue to drag this out for several weeks."
POTUS, Trump, the ever strategic thinker and plotter. Yes, Virginia....”Greenland” is indeed a second Alaska in the making...God...bless our magnificent POTUS, Doanld J. Trump!!!
Oh! So, today Trump is a genius.
I’m not a huge fan of endless wars across the globe, but as far as acquiring new territories? All for it.
Somebody in the press figured it out. The French press.
The American press is still working on a Trump/Russia connection.
Yes, agree! This is totally unexpected but I think it’s brilliant and it means that he (and his analysts, maybe Pompeo and other practical folk, are looking ahead. The Dems are obsessed with the next election, Trump is obsessed with the future of the USA.
Everything flying to and from China and Russia to North America has to come over the North Pole
Not just today, ya idjit.
Something is rotten in Denmark. Watch them let the Chinese make a move on it. The other issue is the EU crap. I could see the EU putting a veto on Denmark on this anyways.
If so then Trump has the initiative and knows what he is doing. This story gets more interesting day by day.
I took the Greenland exit off I-25 on the way home today.
Maybe he could buy that little CO ‘town’ of 15 residents?
Socialism, Communism & Muslim immigration have killed off Europe...period!!! Watch the Eastern European countries like Poland, etc. move forward aggressively as free enterprise capitalist, states. Ditto for Thailand, Vietnam, India, Singapore, Hong Kong.
Good view!
Also, the whole issue is ‘fun stuff’...
>>”(In the US), nobody knows where Greenland is, how it’s run
Speak for your own self, Euro-weenie. The USA covered the polar regions for NATO quite well during the Cold War. The GIUK gap was a key naval choke point, and we had a base at Keflavik because of it. Our base at Thule Greenland was used to run recon missions to the northern bases of the Soviet Union on the Kola Peninsula and nearby. So STHU with the condescension, you’d likely be speaking Russian if it weren’t for us staring down the Soviets in the Cold War.
TG4T
Well the Chinese are literally buying up shipping routes everywhere.
This just got posted last week regarding Argentina. They have billions invested in Chile, Ecuador, Venezuela and Peru - now Argentina.
Exclusive: China set to deepen Argentine trade ties with bid for grains ‘superhighway’
“Watch them let the Chinese make a move on it.”
Let the Danish government know that that would be considered an act of war on their part.
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