#Europe draws red line on #Greenland after a year of futilely trying to pacify #Trump While many European leaders’ reactions to the #Venezuela raid were muted, there have been forceful rebukes about the Trump admin’s greediness on Greenland.

A day later Speaker of the #House #MikeJohnson downplayed the likelihood of force.

“The #US always has #military options for everything,” Johnson told reporters Wednesday. “I think with #Greenland it’s very clear that we are working through diplomatic channels.”

#Europe had been riding out #Trump’s shocks, betting there would be limits. To many, those bets now look much riskier.

#MafiaState #imperialism #geopolitics #Europe #NATO #law #NaturalResources #sovereignty #InternationalLaw

#NATO has survived clashing #allies before. Greece & Turkey, notably, have been in a standoff since Turkish forces occupied northern Cyprus in 1974. But, as Rahman noted, the #US, NATO’s wealthiest & most powerful member, was instrumental in mediating that rift.
“Now it is causing it,” he said. “NATO can’t survive a forceful #annexation. The #alliance would be meaningless even if it continues to exist on paper.”

#Trump #MafiaState #geopolitics #Greenland #Europe #NewWorldOrder #InternationalLaw

Tensions over Greenland’s status were already escalating even before the #Venezuela raid.

…After the Caracas operation, the rhetoric grew edgier &—following #Trump’s effective takeover of a sovereign neighbor—far more believable.

White House deputy chief of staff #StephenMiller said Tuesday that the “formal position” of the #US is that #Greenland should be American, for national security reasons, &, that essentially, it was Trump’s for the taking.

#MafiaState #geopolitics #Europe #NATO #law

“Nobody’s going to fight the #UnitedStates militarily over the future of Greenland,” #StephenMiller said.

Miller’s wife posted an image of the American flag superimposed on a map of #Greenland with the caption “SOON.”

“It’s clear that some people in & adjacent to the administration felt empowered by the success of the operation,” said Heather Hurlburt, an associate fellow in the Americas Program at Chatham House, the London-based think tank.

#Trump #MafiaState #geopolitics #NATO #law

Hurlburt cited a retired #US general who viewed the #Trump White House move in #Venezuela & its fixation on #Greenland as reminiscent of teenagers playing the geostrategic board game Risk.

“Once you start down the road of the #MonroeDoctrine or the #DonroeDoctrine, or whatever we’re saying now, you look at a map of the #WesternHemisphere, & there is Greenland,” she said.

#Trump #MafiaState #imperialism #geopolitics #Europe #NATO #NewWorldOrder #law #Congress #WarPowers #InternationalLaw

Whether its gaming or grasping, European leaders face unpalatable choices. One is to stick with the unified hard line that emerged in recent days, making clear that any move on #Greenland could trigger a response by European #allies — not against #Russia or #China but, unthinkably, against the #UnitedStates.

#Trump #MafiaState #imperialism #greed #geopolitics #Europe #NATO #NewWorldOrder #law #Congress #WarPowers #NaturalResources #sovereignty #ShippingLanes #theft #piracy #InternationalLaw

Invoking the #NATO treaties collective defense clause, known as #Article5, under which an attack on one member is regarded as an attack on all, requires the #unanimity of all 32 #allies. The #US, of course, would reject any plea for help by #Denmark — effectively neutering the #treaty.

“Article 5 did not anticipate that the invading country would be a member of NATO,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) told reporters asking about bill in #Congress to prohibit #Trump for acting in #Greenland.

#law

#Military experts say #Denmark & #Greenland would stand no chance against American #military might. In reality that is nonstarter in every way; political analysts across the board agree with #StephenMiller that no one will go to #war over Greenland. #Europe is too dependent on the #US militarily & economically to risk a true break.

#Trump #MafiaState #imperialism #greed #geopolitics #NATO #NewWorldOrder #law #WarPowers #sovereignty #InternationalLaw

But the mere prospect of such conflict only highlights how much more difficult it is now for #US #allies to toe the line with #Trump. That, too, could lead to a drastic deterioration of the transatlantic #alliance if not its end, analysts say.

“Many European countries are still seeking to ride both a European and an American horse,” Rahman said. “That may become impossible.”

#MafiaState #imperialism #geopolitics #Greenland #Denmark #Europe #NATO #NewWorldOrder #law #InternationalLaw

Another option would be to make a deal on #Greenland — a sale or lease, with expanded access to #mineral rights, & #US role in #security. In the event of a crisis, “the rest of #Europe will lean on #Denmark to make some kind of arrangement with the #US,” Rahman said.

#Trump #MafiaState #imperialism #geopolitics #NATO #NewWorldOrder #law #Congress #WarPowers #NaturalResources #oil #minerals #sovereignty #ShippingLanes #ClimateChange #theft #piracy #InternationalLaw

A #LouisianaPurchase style transaction may be the least likely. Danish #law recognizes Greenlanders as a people with the right to decide their own future, meaning Copenhagen cannot barter the island away even if it wanted to. Any change in #sovereignty would first require #Greenland to choose #independence — a separate #legal, electoral process — before it could negotiate anything with Washington.

#Trump #MafiaState #imperialism #greed #geopolitics #Denmark #Europe #NATO #law #InternationalLaw

@Nonilex and even if Greenland and Denmark were on the same page and decided together to sell to Trump - what about EU and neighbours? They would be affected, too when suddenly Greenland has lots of air traffic since some crazy guy wants to build a golf court on the melting glacier. Let alone all those strategic military and mining stuff they were talking about. It might poison the whole ocean. And we should get a say, too in this case.