Trump's Greenland Grab: Humanity Optional, Minerals Essential
Al Jazeera’s report highlights Greenlanders’ fears that Donald Trump’s covetous gaze for their island’s abundant minerals might overlook their 'humanity.' The story presents this as a fresh concern, focusing on Trump’s crude 'buy Greenland' proposition. What’s missing, of course, is the much longer, more inconvenient history lesson: powerful nations have always shown 'humanity' to be optional when
resources are on the table, from the colonization of Africa to the ongoing resource grabs in the Global South. One might wonder if Greenlanders' fears stem less from Trump specifically, and more from the consistent historical pattern of larger, wealthier nations viewing smaller, resource-rich territories as mere assets. The 'humanity' conversation usually only gets a mention when the resources are
about to be extracted, not when the extraction is being planned. It’s almost as if the 'developed' world operates on a 'find resources, then maybe ask politely, but take them anyway' policy. How many times will indigenous populations need to fear their land being bought or exploited before the media connects the dots beyond a single politician?