Gandhi or Genghis: Peace or War?

Thank goodness for peace in Gaza. It may be fragile and it may be only for some moments in time, offering some relief, both humanitarian in terms of medical aid and physical, offering some quiet and some normality. Hopefully the prospects for continued peace are greater and that a genuine will for resolution emerges from the debris.

The Russia-Ukraine continues, simmering more than explosive, with a new dynamic emerging in the wake of Donald Trump’s inauguration as President. Having boasted that he could bring a peaceful resolution “in a single day,” the world, the Ukraine and Russia await his intervention. The BBC reported this week that a spokesman for Russia’s President Putin, Dmitry Peskov announced they were “waiting for signals,” from the Americans and that they were, “ready for an equal dialogue, a mutually respectful dialogue.” Ukraine’s President Zelensky however remains wary, even cynical just last week saying “Russia does not respect state borders,” while telling Europe that ‘Putin is coming for you as well.’ So, its fingers crossed then for a speedy intervention by America’s leader, though his recent sabre-rattling is concerning. During Trump’s volatile presidency to date, we have seen pronouncements that he will offer Canada statehood, because it’s “costing $200 billion a year in subsidies and too many illegals are coming from there.” He will “take back, the Panama Canal because “China’s military controls it,” and just take Greenland, because of the threat from “recent Russian and Chinese Arctic military development.” Maybe more Genghis than Gandhi though and hardly the perspective for peace methinks.

The US intentions for Greenland, appear a priority and being in Russia’s Arctic backyard, at least unsettling and at worst, alarming. Trump’s assertion this week that it is an, “absolute necessity,” for international security, that “We’re going to have it, because “the people want to be with us.” He continued, in rebuttal of Denmark’s protective responsibility for the colony, saying it would be an “unfriendly act” by Denmark to not relinquish their ownership status because, “We can provide freedom. They can’t.” Though it is composed mainly of ice (80 per cent), Greenland has valuable mineral resources of uranium, iron and more significantly, rare earth metals used in so many of today’s digital devices, Greenland would appear to be a tasty commercial morsel. Greenland is home to only 56,000 inhabitants, mostly native Inuits, with fishing as its only significant industry. It survives economically due to massive subsidies from Denmark. These are drawn on the historical basis that, during 1953, it was made a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, giving them Danish citizenship. Then, in 1979, the Inuits re-asserted their self-determination, although still ceding foreign policy and defence responsibility to their former protectors, Denmark, which still applies today.

America has long held an important security presence in Greenland in the form of the Thule Air Base, now the Pituffik Space Base, as providing a buffer against inter-continental missile threats. An Arctic Institute paper, supported by Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, in fact called upon the US to “develop its presence in the Arctic to counter its rivals, due to its legitimate regional interests,” as China and Russia continue to develop their military capabilities.

Interestingly, the US has long been covetous of Greenland, with earlier negotiations in 1867, shortly after purchasing Alaska from Russia, being rejected ‘off-hand,’ by the Danes. Ironically, during Woodrow Wilson’s presidency he rejected an offer from Denmark for their protectorate, saying, “It’s worthless, just ice. No, I don’t want it!” Later in 1946, the Danes reportedly rejected $100 million as being, ‘insufficient,’ and more recently, during Trump’s earlier term in 2019, Denmark again rejected America for the third time saying, “Greenland is not for sale.” Despite these earlier abortive attempts, President Trump still has a yen (?) for the Arctic colony, however, an obscure piece of legislation from 1917, between Denmark and the United Kingdom that effectively gives the UK first refusal on Greenland.

Effectively, for now it would appear, scuppering the immediate spectre of the Stars and Stripes and McDonald’s Golden Arches, over its capital city, Nuuk.