Greenland signals big world changes

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is one of those films that I occasionally rewatch because it has an inspiring message and a wonderful soundtrack. It is also one of the films that has a segment on Nuuk, Greenland.

In the film, Nuuk is characterized as a sparsely populated but relatively modern city. Last week, however, Nuuk — or more precisely, Greenland — was in the spotlight of global geopolitics.

US President Donald Trump reiterated his view that Greenland belongs to the United States of America. Greenland is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, which is akin to Hong Kong with China.

Interestingly, Greenlanders are not part of the European Union (EU) but are considered EU citizens via their relationship with Denmark. Denmark is a member of both the EU and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

As a European nation, some members of the EU, notably Denmark, France, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, the United Kingdom and Germany, have voiced their opposition to a US takeover of Greenland.

In response, President Trump threatened to impose a 10 percent tariff on countries that opposed his plan by the start of February and did not rule out military action similar to what just happened in Venezuela.

If these countries still opposed the plan despite this, he threatened another 25 percent tariff by June. These threats were made ahead of a meeting of world leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Following that meeting, President Trump reversed his threat with a self-announced agreement with NATO leadership on a “framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland.” Details of this future framework have not been released.

Why does the US, or President Trump, want to own Greenland? The ongoing theory is that the motivations are location and resources.

With the melting of the Arctic ice due to climate change, the sea lanes in this area are opening up more and creating a security vulnerability for North America. Hence, the need to be able to monitor and defend the US or Canada from any incursions in this area.

Greenland is also believed to have large deposits of rare earth minerals, which are now vital ingredients for future technologies in energy and defense.

Currently, the geopolitical rivals of the US have these resources in greater amounts and with greater capability to extract them. In other words, the US is trying to secure its continued security and dominance in the future through a Greenland annexation.

These are large economic issues, and as such, the Philippines, being a small economy, can only be a price taker. In other words, it does not affect us for the moment. What it does mean is that the Philippines must be prepared to make major changes to take advantage of an emerging world order and environment.

It has been a year since President Trump retook American leadership, and he has made major changes in four policy categories, namely fiscal, immigration, trade and foreign policy.

Because of the economic size and influence of the US, these changes have shaken the foundation of our rules-based world order. Rules only exist if everybody follows them. These rules are currently being tested by global powerhouses China, Russia and now the US.

On the assumption that the world returns, in part or in whole, to its more fragmented state pre-United Nations, the Philippines needs to enhance its projection of foreign policy.

This may be tough because gone are the days when we had heavyweights such as Carlos P. Romulo, Diosdado Macapagal and Ferdinand Marcos, who were strong in the areas of foreign policy and diplomatic relations.

We can no longer be inward-looking, and our headlines should reflect more of what is going on around the world because our neighbors, whether allies or rivals, are gradually positioning for this structural shift in geopolitical power and dynamics.

This may present an opportunity for the Philippines to play a bigger role and possibly improve its economic status, given our experiences.

Circling back to Walter Mitty, the film is an adventure story that eventually leads to his rediscovery of himself. But it starts with a big change in his life, which is his imminent obsolescence following the acquisition of Life magazine and its transition to a digital-only format.

In a similar fashion, the world is undergoing a major change in how nations deal with each other. Like Walter Mitty, the Philippines can choose to be bold, accept the unknown and brave the dangers to come. Maybe we will discover a hidden nation in the process.