“If in 10 years, all American troops stationed in Europe for national defense purposes have not been returned to the United States, then this whole project [NATO] will have failed.”

-General of the Army Dwight Eisenhower, February, 1951

The Greenland debacle is bringing the NATO relationship into better focus on just how bad the EU/SSR has become.

America should take a non-interventionist pause and get its internal house in order before standing astride the world again and lighting fires that never go away and continuously make things worse.

The US a deep history in Greenland:

• 1867: Andrew Johnson: explored buying Greenland & Iceland (right after Alaska).

• WWII: FDR: U.S. took over Greenland’s defense while Denmark was occupied.

• 1946: Truman: offered $100M in gold to buy it.

• Cold War: Eisenhower → Kennedy: nonstop negotiations for bases, radar, missiles.

• Post–Cold War: Clinton/Bush/Obama: expanded Arctic security & missile defense.

• 2019: Trump said publicly what presidents discussed privately for 150+ years.

The U.S. didn’t “suddenly” want Greenland.

It’s been defending it, negotiating it, and embedding there since the 1800s.

Greenland = Arctic power, shipping lanes, missiles, minerals, and bases.

Trump didn’t invent it.

He said the quiet part out loud.

There is a realpolitik logic to the concerns.

Stop the madness.

First part here: Ep 009 “Fixing Fight Club: Just Say No to NATO: Part One”

Second part here: Ep 016 “Fixing Fight Club: Just Say No to NATO: Part Two”

References:

Defense of Greenland: Agreement Between the United States and the Kingdom of Denmark, April 27, 1951

Winning The Salvo Competition: Rebalancing America’s Air And Missile Defenses

The Russian Reconnaissance Fire Complex Comes of Age

Nyet Means Nyet (William Burns 2008)

Pat Buchanan Where Does NATO Enlargement End?

DoS Cable: NATO ENLARGEMENT: RUSSIAN ASSERTIONS REGARDING THE TWO-PLUS-FOUR AGREEMENT ON GERMAN UNIFICATION

Books:

Edward Bernays Propaganda

Sevim Dagdelen NATO: A Reckoning with the Atlantic Alliance

Matt Kennard The Racket: A Rogue Reporter vs The American Empire

Daniel Ellsberg The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner

Scott Horton Provoked: How Washington Started the New Cold War with Russia and the Catastrophe in Ukraine

Nassim Taleb Incerto: Fooled by Randomness, The Black Swan, The Bed of Procrustes, Antifragile, Skin in the Game

Mark Gunzinger & Bryan Clark Winning the Salvo Competition: Rebalancing America’s Air and Missile Defense

Christian Brose The Kill Chain: Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare

Email at cgpodcast@pm.me