Geopolitics, rare minerals, and the Polar Silk Road
In Short
By Michael Wainø Hansen, Senior Strategist
Donald Trump is back as the President of the United States and has quickly implemented controversial policies that challenge the global order and traditional conventions. Among the many eye-catching headlines Trump has expressed desires to annex Greenland and the Panama Canal and has even suggested that Canada become the 51st American state. Greenland is strategically important to the U.S. both from a military perspective and its rich deposits of rare minerals, but also because climate change could open new maritime trade routes in the Arctic, which could reduce travel times and costs. While in theory lower shipping cost could stimulate global trade, the obvious losers would be Egypt and Panama. The U.S., Russia, and China are expected to increase their military presence in the Arctic to secure their interests in the region.
Trump is Back in Full Force
Donald Trump has not wasted any time since his inauguration on January 20 as the 47th President of the United States. If the world was already breathless over his many tweets in the weeks following the presidential election on November 5, 2024, the global order and traditional conventions—including international law— are now under attack from the American administration’s unconventional policies in almost every area, including taxation, healthcare, the environment, foreign trade, aid, and international diplomacy. Traditional U.S. allies are openly threatened with economic sanctions if they do not comply, and in some cases, President Trump has refused to rule out the possibility of using military force to secure his administration’s definition of American interests.
Regarding the latter, Denmark and Panama have been targeted due to President Trump's plans for an American annexation of Greenland and the Panama Canal. Canada has also been a target of Trump’s territorial ambitions, as he proposed that Canada could become the 51st U.S. state, arguing that Canada owes the U.S. a significant amount of money and that the
U.S. already subsidizes and provides military protection for Canada. However, on February 5, the world was left completely stunned when Trump, during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, suggested that the U.S. could take over the Gaza Strip, deport the Palestinians to Jordan and Egypt, and create the "Riviera of the Middle East." In this respect, Jordan and Egypt felt the heat, as Trump floated the idea that the two countries should take in 2million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
While it may be difficult to understand Trump’s rationale for directly involving the U.S. in a historically religious and cultural powder keg like Gaza, the reasoning behind taking control of the Panama Canal and Greenland is more straightforward—it’s about geopolitics, minerals and shipping routes. Still, implied threats of annexation through military force are in direct conflict with the principles of international law regarding territorial sovereignty. According to these principles, states are only competent to exercise their power—legislative, judicial, and especially in the form of police and military force—within their own territory, unless they act in self-defense.
The U.S. Has a History of Land Purchases
Donald Trump seems to show limited regard for international law, and while the idea of an American purchase of Greenland supported by military threats may appear unrealistic, absurd, or unusual in Denmark and other parts of Western Europe, buying land and annexation have often been part of American history.
For example, between 1803 and 1898, the U.S. tripled its geographical size through the purchase of Louisiana (from France), Florida (from Mexico), and Alaska (from Russia), as well as the annexation of Texas (which had declared independence from Mexico), which subsequently led to the Mexican-American War over the demarcation between Texas and Mexico. Later, in 1927, the Virgin Islands were purchased from Denmark.
When President Trump does not rule out the use of force in relation to Greenland, it can be seen as a direct continuation of the so-called Monroe Doctrine from 1823. This doctrine was named after President James Monroe, who, in his annual address to Congress, warned European nations that the U.S. would not tolerate further colonization or the installation of puppet governments in countries within the American sphere of interest. In 1865, the Monroe Doctrine was put into practice when the U.S. government used diplomacy and military pressure to support Mexican President Juárez in a successful revolt against Emperor Maximilian, who had been placed on the throne with French assistance.
Later, in 1904, when European creditor nations threatened Latin American countries with military intervention to collect debts, President Roosevelt proclaimed the U.S. right to conduct “international police work” to prevent “chronic wrongdoing.” U.S. Marines also occupied Santo Domingo in 1904, Nicaragua in 1911, and Haiti in 1915, primarily to keep European nations out. In 1962, when the Soviet Union began constructing missile launch sites in Cuba, President Kennedy implemented a naval blockade of Cuba, symbolically invoking the Monroe Doctrine1.
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1 Monroe Doctrine (1823) | National Archives
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