The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set news policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com
Lauren Jacobs is a faculty member at the University of Maine. These are her views and do not express those of the University of Maine System or the University of Maine.
Many Americans over the last few weeks have been horrified by the president’s rhetoric and actions around his insistence on taking “ownership” over Greenland. And though the temperature of this conflict has in recent days decreased, damage has been done and uncertainty remains. On this issue, which has been entirely manufactured by the president, there have been many things to worry about.
We should worry about a military conflict with an ally, and the subsequent destruction of NATO that would result. (Nearly 90% of Americans oppose military action in Greenland.) We should worry about the even larger geopolitical fallout from this dangerous rhetoric, and how it may actually strengthen and embolden Russia and China (as opposed to “strengthening” our security, like the president insists).
Though the president has recently walked back his tariff threats related to his Greenland demands, we should worry about the economic impact of such moves. We should also worry about the fact that President Donald Trump’s insistence that the U.S. must “own” Greenland for security purposes is completely divorced from reality because the United States already has a military base there and a nearly free reign to add more via an already existing defense agreement.
But in all the articles and analyses, one thing has been starkly missing: the voices of Greenlanders and true concern for them as a people. In nearly every article I’ve read there is some mention that Greenlanders do not want to be American because they do not want to lose access to their universal healthcare, free education, and other trappings of a Scandinavian society. While their concerns about these issues are real, their desire to not be invaded should not, and cannot, be reduced to some economic calculus about a comparison between our two countries’ social safety nets.
The Greenlandic culture is ancient and beautifully adapted to their climate and environment. They have their own language and their own worldviews. The vast majority of Greenlandic citizens are Indigenous, and they have already had to survive colonization once. It is, frankly, deeply offensive to reduce their feelings on current U.S. hostilities to a discussion on the kind of healthcare they will get.
I am lucky enough to have traveled to Greenland. I have friends in Greenland. Though it’s nearly impossible to believe that a U.S. president would take military action against a NATO ally simply because he wants to own it, I have been forcing myself to confront the reality that the president appears to be deadly serious.
In this new and frightening world, I believe that everyone — of all political persuasions — has a duty to act. I will not stand idly by while our country threatens the sovereignty of a people. A people, it should be noted, with no cultural or historical framework for war or armed conflict.
To the media, I ask you not to forget that behind all of the geopolitical chess playing there is a group of people who are — quite literally — facing an existential crisis involving their sovereignty, culture, language, and way of life. Do not leave out the humans at the core of this mess that they had no part in making.
And to Mainers, please remember the humanity at the center of all of this news that — at times — can feel far away and abstract. If you believe in Greenlanders’ right to self-determination and territorial integrity, please take action by demanding our elected officials do more to curb Trump’s dangerous actions and threatening rhetoric. Though the crisis has recently been deescalated somewhat, there are still suggestions being made of ceding some Greenlandic territory to the United States.
Greenland’s unofficial anthem states, “At the feet of her mountains, the mouths of her fjords, her inhabitants meet each other. The sea is their domain, which they treat so well. It belongs to the Kalaallit [Greenlandic people] until the end of time!” May that be true, and may we all take action so that it is so. Kalaallit Nunaat tapersersorpara. I stand with Greenland.