31 Comments
User's avatar
Mojave Jim's avatar

Good summary of the stakes and the means available. Thanks for posting.

matthew mangold's avatar

Thanks for the clarity.

Skeptical1's avatar

Scott is a regime stooge. Simply put. If you believe he is interested in helping you and your people, you are foolish. Scott is interested in sucking up to power. That’s all. He cares more about his status than pursuing what is right. He’s a fox. Not a lion.

Carl's avatar

Takes a lifetime to build a reputation and five minutes to blow it

David N's avatar

There is no evidence whatsoever that Russia or China have any plans to annex Greenland. Michael Tracey reminded on X that China proposed some development projects back in 2018 that were cancelled by Denmark under US pressure. Naked imperialism, plain and simple.

Christopher Black's avatar

I never claimed that having a lower quality of life in the short-to-medium term is a bad thing.

Especially not when killing lots and lots of innocent women and children in the Middle East (to say nothing of pornography, abortion, sodomy, and other forms of degeneracy) seems to be the price to pay for maintaining a "high quality of life."

Scott Greer's avatar

It would be a lower quality of life in the long-term. It would also allow China to assert global dominance, which would not be in the interest of ordinary Americans at all.

Christopher Black's avatar

Why not? With the national debt & the trade deficit being as high as they are, isn't Chinese global dominance already a given?

Scott Greer's avatar

Lol no. Very BASED to want Chinese global hegemony so we no longer say mean things to Denmark and do mean things to Maduro

Christopher Black's avatar

It's not that I "want" Chinese hegemony inasmuch as Chinese hegemony is here whether we like it or not.

Like, instead of fighting a losing global domination battle, why not retreat a bit & invest in our own people? Look at the British, post-WW2: they gave up their colonies to fund their NHS.

Scott Greer's avatar

If you think modern Britain is a great model to follow, you're even dumber than I thought.

How are we going to pay for an NHS when our economy tanks and we only have a fraction of our current revenue?

Christopher Black's avatar

Lol, as if the architects of Britain's post-war NHS were ackshually the direct cause of all of modern Britain's problems vis-à-vis Muslim mass immigration. Got me there, man.

If we can somehow find the money to pay for Greenland, pay for war with Israel's enemies du jour, pay for "interventions" in Venezuela, Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, etc., then why can't we find the money to pay for things that actually help taxpayers? You know, the folks who end up having to pay for all the aforementioned?

Christopher Black's avatar

Why should Americans maintain an empire? Why can't we work on our own (many) problems and let other folks do their own thing? Is it because it's easier and "more fun" to trash & blame China, Russia, and Iran?

Scott Greer's avatar

You need to read last week's column https://www.highly-respected.com/p/america-has-always-been-an-empire

If you think you can maintain America's high quality of life without the empire, you frankly need a lot of IQ Supplements

Carl's avatar

What high quality of life pal? Look around you

Scott Greer's avatar

You can always go to Somalia or Haiti for a higher quality of life than America

Valcoeur's avatar

Consistently clear-visioned.

But "Britian"....brother you can't let those little ones get you

Luke's avatar

WOW Scott, the reply guys have very low IQ today.

danny's avatar

I don't understand how we can take Trump seriously on this when he explicitly greenlit the Chagos deal.

https://www.state.gov/u-s-support-for-uk-and-mauritius-agreement-on-chagos-archipelago

Why do you think he did this? It makes no sense.

Sage Alfields's avatar

Greenland is a feint, fleet positioning indicates Trump is taking the Panama Canal.

Argos's avatar

This analysis fundamentally doesn't make any sense, as Greenland is a part of NATO, and the US already has military bases there. This of course is a deterrent to anyone who would want to annex it. There are also some other parts that make it clear the author doesn't really know anything about the topic, such as claiming that Greenland being under EU regulations is a problem, when Greenland is not a part of the EU.

Scott Greer's avatar

1) The Chagos were also part of NATO, but are set to not be part of it in the handover to Mauritius. That could jeopardize the bases there.

2) Greenland is not part of the EU, but EU regulations still play a role there and interfere with American projects and is one of the sticking points in the negotiations.

3) Greenland is eventually going to be independent. It's best for that event to go America's way rather than relying on the hapless Danes to ensure the best outcome

Christopher F. Hansen's avatar

Denmark hasn't been responsible for defending Greenland for a long time. They've allowed us to maintain military bases there since the 50s. Functionally, Greenland is already an American protectorate.

I think the best path to satisfy both sides could be a new deal that explicitly excludes Russian or Chinese involvement. Our bases are secured for, say, 50 years, and we get a veto right over investment from or settlement by non-Danish nationals. This would be enough to secure our interests. Since we are responsible for defending the territory, we could also fairly demand a reasonable percentage of the proceeds from any natural resource production there.

forumposter123@protonmail.com's avatar

56,000 Greenlanders x $1m = $56b. $700b seems way too high.

Arthur in California's avatar

Maybe I've had too much coffee this morning, but I ponder if the whole “GreenlandGate” affair is one of the greatest geopolitical kayfabe events so far this year. What if the US and NATO are all in together on the kabuki theater that they are at odds with America taking full control of the world’s largest ice cube in a sort of feint to fool the Chinese and Russians?

Look at some of the ridiculous posting; Denmark politicians making AI Polar Bears and Walrus troops in the back of pickups in defense of the Nuuk, Euro vassal states pretending to sit at the grown-up table instead of in the backyard as usual. If an official announcement of some Five Eyes conference happens and they walk out all smiles with an agreement, then that'll convince me this was all a Realpolitik show.

Marko's avatar

I don't suppose we can get Canada to annex it and then sign some kind of Greenlandbux deal with her

Alexander Scipio's avatar

$700,000,000,000 is 165% of Denmark’s GDP.

$1,458,265,724,300 is 165% of Taiwan’s GDP.

Just sayin’…