“Delusional,” “clumsy,” “paranoid.” These are just some of the descriptions that accompany the reports about the statements of the newly elected US President, Donald Trump, on Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal.
Last Tuesday, Trump stated in the press conference that he does not rule out the use of military force to take control of the Panama Canal and Greenland, since - as he said - US control of both these areas is “vital” to American national security.
Trump has also proposed that Canada join the US as its 51st state, describing the border between the two countries as an “artificially drawn line”.
But let’s see: In a world burning with imperialist rivalries and wars, how “paranoid” are such plans?
Who will control the Arctic?
The interest in Greenland has to do with the competition for the control of the Arctic, mainly between the US, Russia and China, but also the EU. The strategic importance of the region grows as the ice melts and its passage becomes easier, as well as the exploitation of its mineral wealth.
Thus, Greenland has always been at the center of American interest, as the United States is not satisfied with the fact that it is the territory of Denmark, its NATO ally. The same applies to Canada, which, together with the American state of Alaska, has a large coastline in the Arctic Circle, and therefore potential sovereignty in the region.
Russia's coastline in the Arctic Circle is 19,300 kilometers, Canada's 11,200 kilometers, Norway's 2,000 kilometers, the United States (Alaska) 10,690 kilometers, Denmark (Greenland) 2,400 kilometers and Iceland's 1,800 kilometers. Britain also claims sovereignty and exploitation rights due to small island possessions in the Arctic.
The US Geological Survey estimates that the Arctic holds about 90 billion barrels, 15% of the world's undiscovered conventional oil resources, and about 40 billion barrels, 30% of the world's undiscovered conventional natural gas resources.
The melting ice also makes the Arctic attractive as an alternative route for maritime trade. The distance from northwestern Europe to the Far East, via the existing Northern Sea Route (NSR), is almost 40% shorter than the traditional route via the Suez Canal.
At the same time, other sea routes (e.g. the Trans-Strait Sea Route - TSR) are being planned, which will drastically reduce freight transport times and save fuel for shipping behemoths. Greenland itself is rich in minerals, including rare earths used in battery manufacturing and high-tech industries. According to a 2023 study, 25 of the 34 minerals considered “critical raw materials” by the European Commission were found in Greenland.β The island’s rich mineral reserves, which are currently not being mined, are considered to be able to “break” China’s existing near-monopoly on rare earths.
China, for its part, is promoting investment in Greenland’s mines (it has shown interest in the large rare earth deposit “Kvanefjeld”, which has huge uranium reserves and is also claimed by the US), while Greenland is part of the “Polar Silk Road”, China’s plan to expand its economic influence in the region.
The US has sought and obtained extensive defence cooperation and basing rights there since 1951, through the Greenland Defence Agreement. It has installed a ballistic missile early warning system on the island, as the shortest route from Europe to North America passes over the island.
The US Space Corps maintains a permanent presence at Pituffik Base (formerly known as Thule Air Force Base) in the northwest of the island. The base is a major hub for intelligence and surveillance operations, allowing monitoring of military activities by Russia and other Arctic countries.
NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command), the bilateral US-Canadian military command responsible for air and space defense in North America, also maintains a significant presence on the island. Its facilities include air bases, radars, and communications stations.
The US has expressed interest in expanding its military presence in Greenland, in order to install radars in the waters connecting Greenland, Iceland, and the United Kingdom. These waters are a gateway for Russian and Chinese vessels.
Russia, however, with the largest coastline in the Arctic and a superweaponry in military installations and icebreakers, has the undisputed lead in strategic control and exploitation of the region's wealth.
It has invested in the modernization of military infrastructure since the Soviet Union period and currently operates more than 50 Arctic bases, including airfields, radar stations, ports, missile launch sites and shipyards, with the ability to host nuclear bombers and missiles.
It should be noted that American military activity in Greenland had caused major reactions when, in 1986, an aircraft carrying four "B28FI" thermonuclear bombs crashed into sea ice, resulting in radioactive contamination of the area. On at least two occasions, it has been revealed that the Thule Air Base was the site of US nuclear weapons storage, during the 1950s and 1960s.
A political scandal erupted in Denmark in 1995 when it was revealed that the government had secretly given the US permission to station nuclear weapons in Greenland, in violation of the 1957 "nuclear-free zone" policy.
The following year, declassified documents revealed that the US Army had planned a top-secret program, "Project Iceworm", to install an extensive network of nuclear missile launch sites that could survive a first strike and could hit targets within the former Soviet Union.
China’s thorn in Panama
Regarding the Panama Canal, the country’s foreign minister has hit back at Trump’s threat to retake one of the world’s key trade routes, which the US built and occupied before handing over control to the Central American nation in 1999. “The only hands that control the canal are the hands of Panama and that’s how it will continue to be,” the Panamanian foreign minister said.
The Panama Canal, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, carries around 14,000 ships a year. If it were to be disrupted, the impact on shipping would be huge, with pressures on the global supply chain and a domino effect of rising transport costs.
The Panama Canal has been included in the framework of the competition between the US and China for primacy in the global imperialist system, as Chinese companies have gained a significant presence in Panama, causing strong concerns in Washington, while approximately 40% of the cargo that passes through the Panama Canal ends up in or starts from US ports.
China's COSCO, one of the largest global shipping groups, has invested in port facilities and infrastructure around the Canal. It should be noted that within the week, the Chinese monopoly was blacklisted by the US government for relations with the Chinese armed forces. Although the blacklisting does not entail specific sanctions, it discourages American businesses from doing business with the companies in question.
Nothing is fixed, nothing is for granted!
In the reactions to Trump's statements, some are trying to downplay them, others to discredit them and others to repel them, sounding the alarm bell for a serious new crisis within the Euro-Atlantic alliance. Even more so in the case of Greenland, where certain bourgeois forces do not see with a negative eye the tightening of ties with the US and the possible independence of the island from Denmark.
What is certain is that these three regions that the new US government is focusing on, play a decisive role - economically and militarily - in the development of the conflict for primacy in the global imperialist system between the US and China, with the involvement of their allies.
From this point of view, nothing can be underestimated. Even more so in our days, when post-war imperialist compromises are becoming more fragile than ever and nothing is given.
As China's strengthening threatens to topple the US from the throne of the first imperialist power and forces of the emerging Eurasian camp, such as Russia, intensify the confrontation with the Euro-Atlantic, as wars expand as a continuation of the same imperialist policy by violent means, the world we knew until now will seem outdated, ready to explode.
Thus, Trump's statements may be indicative of a renegotiation of relations with traditional Euro-Atlantic allies, necessary for the strengthening of the US vis-à-vis China, but when everything hangs by a thread, as today, it is not difficult for the fire of contradictions to flare up even within the American-NATO imperialist camp, where nothing can be taken for granted.
The peoples will come to the fore
In any case, the developments reveal the clay feet of Euro-Atlantic propaganda, which tears its clothes over the Russian intervention in Ukraine, or over China's "threats" to Taiwan, but in the face of Trump's statements, which bluntly threaten the sovereignty of other countries, they swallow their tongues or make lukewarm statements.
The same applies to the Greek government and the other Euro-Atlanticist parties in our country, which have not said a single word about Trump's provocative statements, when on other occasions, they blurt out entire "sheets" to defend NATO policy against its opponents and rush to support it by all means, including militarily.
In these circumstances, the rise of workers' - popular intervention can and must exploit any "crack" and "instability" in the system to obstruct the dominant policy, to extract conquests, to change the correlation of power in favor of the peoples, leading to the overthrow of capitalism.
History has also proven that the imperialist war, the deep capitalist crises and the other incurable impasses of the system, in addition to suffering and suffering for the peoples, also bring awakening, a rushing entry into the struggle of the popular masses that until recently remained inactive. There lies the hope and there the KKE will give all its strength!
