MAKE IT MAKE SENSE: Arctic imperialism

Will the fight over Greenland overturn the postwar international order?

In today’s letter: The high stakes — and kernel of truth — of Donald Trump’s obsession with Greenland, and thoughts on MLK Day.

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THE GIST: Trapped under ice

What exactly is the United States doing, starting a trade war and potentially blowing up NATO and the postwar order — over Greenland?

It’s tempting to dismiss most of Donald Trump’s nonsensical statements about “national security” or the psychological comforts of possessing the Arctic island territory — the “quixotic quest to control Greenland,” as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer calls it. Can’t we get back to focusing on affordability? Is there really any more to this than Trump’s continuing resentment of the Nobel Prize Committee — see, they didn’t give him the Peace Prize he deserved, so why not go to war? Really.

But there may be a good reason to take Trump literally and seriously on this one.