Arctic Power Grab Exposes NATO's Imperial Contradictions

Analysis of: Greenland’s PM says he doesn’t know details of rumoured deal and calls for US to respect red lines – latest updates
The Guardian | January 22, 2026

TL;DR

European leaders scramble to present united front as Trump's Greenland threats expose NATO's fundamental dependence on US imperial power. The crisis reveals how capitalist states compete for Arctic resources while workers in Ukraine freeze and die.

The emergency EU summit on Greenland crystallizes a profound contradiction within the Western imperial alliance: European capitalist states depend entirely on US military power while simultaneously competing with American capital for strategic resources. Trump's aggressive moves toward Greenland—threatening tariffs, floating annexation, demanding 'total access'—laid bare what polite diplomatic language normally obscures: NATO exists not as a defensive alliance of equals but as a mechanism for coordinating imperial interests under US hegemony. Zelenskyy's blistering Davos speech provided the sharpest class analysis, noting that Europe remains 'a beautiful but fragmented kaleidoscope of small and middle powers' unable to act decisively without American permission. His observation that Russian oil tankers sail freely along European coasts while the US seizes Venezuelan vessels in international waters exposes the selective application of 'international law'—rules exist to discipline the periphery while core powers act with impunity. The French seizure of a Russian tanker hours after Zelenskyy's remarks suggests European states may be pushed toward independent imperial action. Beneath the diplomatic theater lies the material reality: Arctic shipping routes, critical minerals, and military positioning for great power competition. Greenland represents not merely territory but access to resources essential for the green energy transition and military supremacy. The working classes of Ukraine, Greenland, and Europe have no seat at these negotiations—their lives and livelihoods are bargaining chips in inter-capitalist competition dressed up as 'security cooperation.'

Class Dynamics

Actors: US ruling class (represented by Trump administration), European capitalist states and their political representatives, NATO bureaucracy as coordinator of imperial interests, Greenlandic political elite seeking independence leverage, Ukrainian state fighting for survival, Russian oligarchic state pursuing expansion, Working classes of Ukraine bearing war's costs, European workers facing potential economic disruption

Beneficiaries: US defense contractors and military-industrial complex, Mining and resource extraction corporations eyeing Arctic minerals, European defense industries receiving increased orders, Political elites using crisis for domestic positioning

Harmed Parties: Ukrainian civilians under bombardment and energy attacks, Greenlandic population whose self-determination is bargaining chip, European workers facing potential tariffs and economic instability, Global working class bearing costs of military escalation

The crisis exposes the hierarchical nature of the 'Western alliance'—the US dictates terms while European states scramble to present 'unity' as leverage. Denmark and Greenland's sovereignty becomes negotiable once US interests are engaged. Meanwhile, Ukraine demonstrates how smaller states serve as proxies in great power competition, with Zelenskyy forced to beg for weapons while diplomatically managing his dependence on American goodwill.

Material Conditions

Economic Factors: Arctic shipping routes opening due to climate change, Critical mineral deposits (rare earths) in Greenland, US-EU trade relations and tariff threats as economic coercion, Russian oil revenues funding war despite sanctions, European energy dependence and infrastructure vulnerability, Defense industry expansion across NATO states

The conflict centers on control over strategic resources and trade routes essential for 21st-century production. Greenland's minerals are vital for electronics, renewable energy technology, and military equipment—whoever controls extraction controls crucial supply chains. The 'shadow fleet' of Russian tankers represents capital's ability to circumvent state sanctions when profits demand it. Defense production is ramping up across Europe, representing a shift of social surplus from welfare to warfare.

Resources at Stake: Greenland's rare earth minerals and strategic metals, Arctic shipping lanes (Northern Sea Route), Military positioning for missile defense, Ukrainian territory and reconstruction contracts, European energy infrastructure, US Treasury bonds as financial leverage

Historical Context

Precedents: 1867 US purchase of Alaska from Russia, 1917 US purchase of Danish West Indies (Virgin Islands), 1951 US-Denmark defense agreement on Greenland, Monroe Doctrine and US hemispheric domination, Scramble for Africa and colonial resource extraction, Cold War NATO formation as anti-communist alliance

This represents late-stage imperial competition characteristic of declining hegemonic power. The US, facing relative economic decline against China, seeks to lock in strategic advantages through territorial control rather than mere market mechanisms. Trump's tactics echo 19th-century gunboat diplomacy updated for the neoliberal era—tariff threats replace cannon fire, but the underlying logic of coercion remains. European powers, having outsourced military capacity to NATO (read: the US) for decades, now discover their subordinate position when American interests diverge from their own.

Contradictions

Primary: NATO's foundational contradiction: it presents itself as a defensive alliance of sovereign equals while functioning as a mechanism for US imperial coordination. European states cannot defend their interests against the US because the alliance structure makes them dependent on American military power.

Secondary: European capitals host 'sovereign' summits while awaiting American permission to act, Climate change opens Arctic resources while accelerating the crisis that makes them valuable, Ukraine fights for 'European values' while Europe proves unable to defend them independently, Sanctions regime targets Russia while shadow fleet operates freely along European coasts, Greenland's independence movement is leveraged by all parties while actual self-determination is denied

The contradiction may resolve through European military independence (costly and destabilizing to current order), continued subordination to US hegemony (sustainable only if US interests align with European), or a fundamental restructuring of the alliance system. Zelenskyy's call for a 'three million army' Europe represents one bourgeois resolution—independent European imperialism. The working-class resolution would require international solidarity against all imperial blocs.

Global Interconnections

The Greenland crisis connects directly to the broader reorganization of global capitalism as US hegemony faces challenges. The Arctic represents one of the last great frontiers for capital accumulation—shipping routes, minerals, fishing, and military positioning all attract competing interests. China's 'Polar Silk Road' ambitions, Russia's Northern Fleet expansion, and now aggressive US moves demonstrate how climate catastrophe opens new arenas for inter-imperial competition. The Ukraine dimension reveals how peripheral states become battlegrounds for great power competition. Ukrainian workers die not for 'freedom' in the abstract but because their territory sits between competing imperial spheres. Zelenskyy's frustration with European inaction reflects the objective position of dependent states—forced to manage relations with their 'protectors' while bearing the material costs of great power rivalry. The simultaneous discussions of Greenland, Ukraine, and Trump's 'Board of Peace' for Gaza show how multiple crises are interconnected expressions of a single system in crisis.

Conclusion

This crisis offers workers a clear lesson: 'national security' and 'sovereignty' serve as ideological cover for ruling-class interests. Danish workers have more in common with Greenlandic fishers and Ukrainian factory workers than with the diplomats negotiating their fates in Brussels and Davos. The path forward requires rejecting the false choice between American hegemony and European imperial independence—both represent different configurations of capitalist power. International working-class solidarity, not better-managed imperialism, offers the only genuine alternative to endless cycles of great power competition, resource wars, and the sacrifice of peripheral populations to core interests.

Suggested Reading

• Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism by V.I. Lenin (1917) Lenin's analysis of inter-imperial rivalry and the division of the world among great powers directly illuminates the Arctic scramble and NATO's contradictions.
• The New Imperialism by David Harvey (2003) Harvey's concept of 'accumulation by dispossession' explains how territorial control remains essential to capitalism even in the neoliberal era of supposedly free markets.
• The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon (1961) Fanon's analysis of how colonized peoples become pawns in great power competition resonates with Greenland and Ukraine's positions in current negotiations.
• The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein (2007) Klein's documentation of how crises enable capital to seize resources and restructure power relations helps decode the opportunities various actors see in current instability.

Editorial Note: This analysis applies a dialectical materialist framework to news events. It represents one interpretive perspective and should not be considered objective reporting.

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