BLUF: Avalanche on Standby

This year’s World Economic Forum in Davos has felt like an avalanche on standby.

On the peak sits President Trump’s icebreaking comments about acquiring Greenland from Denmark and even though the President’s words challenged Europe’s leaders, the President seems to be getting what he wants  - or certainly a portion of it. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte went ahead and confirmed that the U.S. and NATO have in fact formed the “framework” for a future Arctic security deal involving Greenland. 

Everyone’s waiting to see exactly what that entails but this movement continues to incite aggressive reactions across the board. As evidenced by the public fractures that have erupted within the Transatlantic partnerships that were rolled out for all to see this week. 

Look no further than Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. While we would suggest this declaration will not age well, the Prime Minister decided to use this week to cozy up to China, forming a new “strategic partnership” with Beijing, and that came on top of describing what he sees as the end of the Pax Americana. 

If you need even further evidence that these relationships are more strained than steady, look at Secretary Bessent’s comments about a whole host of topics including the failure of the Brits on Diego Garcia, the Europeans reaction to Trump on Greenland, and many more examples. 

Much like in our democratic societies, securing our collective freedom on the international stage has always been a tenuous, if not fractious, process. However, as we have seen time and again, regardless of the rhetoric from the various podiums, cooperation between allies in the pursuit of security can be achieved despite the trickiest of circumstances.

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