Beyond Venezuela!
Ishtiaq Ahmed
Bradford: The real reason behind USA’s decision to force regime change and accomplish take over of Venezuela as stated by the President Donald Trump: “ We’re going to be using oil, and we’re going to be taking oil.” “ We’re going to be using oil, and we’re going to be taking oil.”
There is no end to Trump’s ambitions to use military options to extend his direct control of smaller and weaker nations. He has already named Columbia, Mexico,Cuba, Greenland and even Iran as his next targets.
European leaders have been cautious about criticising President Trump . They need US support to fend off Russia in Ukraine. Therefore, the safety of smaller nations is being traded for a bigger cause, so it appears.
“If Europe acquiesces in US actions against the Maduro regime, it risks weakening the legal principles that underpin its opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” said Alberto Alemanno, a professor of EU law.
“If, however, it condemns those actions,” Alemanno said, “Europe risks alienating its primary security guarantor and straining transatlantic unity , at a moment when collective defence against Russia is especially critical.”
The EU is in a deep bind over Donald Trump’s smash-and-grab raid on Venezuela . But the EU’s dilemma is multiplied by Trump’s insistence that the US “absolutely” needs also to take control of Greenland, a self-governing territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
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Trump says he wants Greenland for its vast mineral deposits and potential oil and gas reserves.
However, Europe appears to be confused as to how best to respond to Trump’s bullish war mongering intent. The potential takeover of Greenland presents the European leadership a real headache and sleepless nights.
Whereas they would want to tackle Trump more robustly but they are handicapped by the war in Ukraine and historical considerations for which they cannot afford to anger Trump .
However, the EU policy makers are no longer ignoring the U.S. president’s ramped-up rhetoric , and are desperately searching for a plan to stop him.
“We must be ready for a direct confrontation with Trump,” said an EU diplomat. “He is in an aggressive mode, and we need to be geared up.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Trump’s preference would be to acquire the territory through a negotiation and also that he would consider purchasing the island but a military takeover was also an option.
The French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said he and his counterparts from Germany and Poland had discussed a joint European response to Trump’s threat.
“What is at stake is the question of how Europe, the EU, can be strengthened to deter threats, attempts on its security and interests,” Barrot told reporters. “Greenland is not for sale, and it is not for taking … so the threats must stop.”
“Everyone is very stunned and unaware of what we actually have in the toolbox,” said a former Danish MP. “No one really knows what to do because the Americans can do whatever they want. But we need answers to these questions immediately. They can’t wait three or five or seven years.”
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Trump says Greenland is vital for US security interests and accuses Denmark of not doing enough to protect it against increasing Chinese and Russian military activity in the Arctic. But the real reason for the takeover of Greenland are the untapped resources of the Island which require heavy investment to avail these.
In order to widen its line of attack, the Trump administration has thrown its weight behind Greenland’s independence movement. The pitch seems to be that if the Arctic territory leaves the Kingdom of Denmark and signs up to a deal with the US, it will be flooded with American cash. Although Trump has repeatedly refused to rule out using military force to take Greenland while insisting that he wants it to come willingly, it remains a serious option.
The EU and Denmark are trying to convince Greenlanders that they can give them a better deal. EU is formulating plans which would almost double the new spending to focus on developing the island’s ability to extract mineral resources.
“We have many, many people below the poverty line, and the infrastructure in Greenland is lagging, and our resources are primarily taken out without good profit to Greenland but mostly profit to Danish companies,” said Kuno Fencker, a pro-independence Greenlandic opposition MP.
An attractive offer from Denmark and the EU could be enough to keep Greenlanders out of America’s grasp. Of course, economic retaliation against the US by the EU also remains an option.
Although fraught with difficulties , the EU does have one strong political tool at its disposal, which it could use to deter Trump: the Anti-Coercion Instrument, the “trade bazooka” created after the first Trump administration, which allows the EU to retaliate against trade discrimination.
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The EU threatened to deploy it after Trump slapped tariffs on the bloc but shelved it reaching a deal.With the US still imposing tariffs on the EU, Brussels could bring the bazooka back.
EU exports to US totalling €600 billion.But Trump would have to believe the EU was serious, given that all its tough talk amounted to nothing the last time around.
If the US does decide to take Greenland by military force, it seems there is little Europeans could do to prevent it. They are not going to preemptively attack Americans before they claim Greenland. Legally, Denmark could respond militarily under a 1952 standing order which states, troops should “immediately take up the fight without waiting for, or seeking orders” in “the event of an attack on Danish territory.”
The European countries could deploy troops to Greenland , if Denmark requests it. This is completely unexplored territory. What is clear is that the world needs to come up with a robust strategy to stop Trump trampling over independent nations.
The author is a British citizen of Pakistani origin with a keen interest in Pakistani and international affairs.
The article is the writer’s opinion, it may or may not adhere to the organization’s editorial policy.
This article rightly raises concerns about the erosion of international law and the dangerous normalisation of “might is right” politics. Europe’s dilemma is real: remaining silent on U.S. coercive actions weakens the legal principles it relies on to oppose Russia, yet confronting Washington risks transatlantic strain.
However, the piece occasionally overstates intent by treating Trump’s aggressive rhetoric as settled policy. While resource competition in Venezuela and Greenland is undeniable, military action is constrained by legal, political, and alliance realities.
Overall, the article is a timely warning rather than a definitive account—effective in highlighting Europe’s strategic paralysis, but stronger sourcing and clearer distinction between rhetoric and policy would enhance its credibility.
I feel there is a lot more going on between the super powers, as if the all actions are being taken , through mutual blessing to implement a new world order – whatever that may look like.
The world is financially, enviromentally and health wise, in a free fall, where there are no moral or humanistic values. I feel there is a bigger new world order plan, which is not shared with us mere mortals. Either that or our leaders are going insane.