Rik van Wijk

Here’s the reality: Greenland is a self-governing territory of Denmark, a US treaty ally. Greenland’s and Denmark’s elected leaders have made clear they have no interest in being sold to the U.S. Upending that reality via a pressure campaign - again, against a U.S. treaty ally - would require returning to 19th century rules of territorial acquisition, which is possible given Trump’s simultaneous targeting of the Panama Canal and Canada (!?). What would that then signal to Russia re Ukraine, China re Taiwan and the South and East China Seas, Turkey re northern Syria, Serbia re Kosovo, to name a few? One intended legacy of the post-WW2 order - which, remember, was designed to prevent another bloody world war after two in a generation - was the sanctity of borders. Does the deterioration of that lead to a more or less peaceful world? History has some lessons.