DC Edit | Turmoil Lingers As Trump Softens Greenland Stand
What seemed more certain after the meeting of minds, or clash of personalities since Mr Trump came back to Davos, is that reality has changed, perhaps forever. But not much has changed on Greenland with Mr Trump still wanting a piece of ice that he sometimes confuses with Iceland except that he has promised he will not use force to occupy the semi-autonomous land that belongs to a fellow Nato member
After a rollercoaster ride over two days in Davos that the US President Donald Trump orchestrated in his trademark eccentric style, Europe may have been able to breathe just a bit easier. But, far from offering clarity on issues that have been rocking Europe and the rest of the world, there was only baffling uncertainty about the future of trade, the US role in world affairs and the rules-based international order itself.
What seemed more certain after the meeting of minds, or clash of personalities since Mr Trump came back to Davos, is that reality has changed, perhaps forever. But not much has changed on Greenland with Mr Trump still wanting a piece of ice that he sometimes confuses with Iceland except that he has promised he will not use force to occupy the semi-autonomous land that belongs to a fellow Nato member.
Vague talk of an Arctic-Greenland deal in the future that he discussed with Mark Rutte, the Nato secretary general, has only added to what can best be described as proposals that Mr Trump often presents as decisions. Mercifully, Mr Trump’s U-turns that have led to his being referred to as TACO (Trump always chickens out), have doused the fires between trans-Atlantic allies somewhat.
The damage done thanks to a seismic shift in global power equations after the advent of Mr Trump may, however, be more permanent. If the globalisation of trade and its supply chains in a codependent world lies in tatters, the main culprit is Trumpian tariffs, sometimes risible as he stipulated 39 per cent, a threatened 30 plus a whimsical nine after meeting the Swiss president and then brought it down to 15 after the makers of Rolex wrist watches, the ultimate status symbol in the USA, charmed him.
The Canadian Prime Minister Mike Carney articulated the current state of the world brilliantly in a memorable speech, lamenting the rupture of the world order and describing the moment as “the beginning of a brutal reality where the geopolitics of the great powers is not subject to any constraints”. Canada, a neighbour with a long land border and emotional ties going back centuries, is fed up enough with the Trump worldview of today that it is willingly walking into an embrace with the Chinese dragon.
The 27-nation European Union may have seen through the Trump bullying and backed up the sending of troops to a Nato exercise in Greenland with threats of calling off trade deals with the US. They may have picked up something from the Indian approach of relying on strategic autonomy and trade diversification to stand up to Mr Trump. Of course, the realisation that the US President could be more of a bogeyman than an absolute enforcer of fanciful tariffs may have helped too.
If there is one area in which Mr Trump deserves credit it is to do with his single-minded pursuit of peace in Gaza and a commitment to rebuilding at least a part of it. He may be guilty of converting the charming Swiss village of Davos, a powerhouse of economic thought, into a venue for kicking off what appears too much like an alternative United Nations, but he has come through with his idea of a Board of Peace that he signed into a concrete project.
It will be a pity if India chooses to stay off the peace board as its presence could have ensured an ideal counterbalance to solidarity with Israel as a victim of terror by recognising how much the Palestinian civilians have suffered for the terror instincts of Hamas.