Is Trump Imposing a New Monroe Doctrine?

 By Henry Srebrnik, [Fredericton, NB] Daily Gleaner

Since becoming president, Donald Trump has signaled that he is in effect reviving an old American foreign policy -- the Monroe Doctrine.

He has suggested that the United States take control of the Island of Greenland, now a Danish possession, and regain the Panama Canal, the important waterway that links the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans across central America. Both, Trump insists, are essential to bolster American security. Are we now back to the future?

In 1823 President James Monroe declared that the western hemisphere should be free of European interference and closed to future colonization. American foreign policy was preoccupied with ensuring the country’s interests across this vast region. From Secretary of State William Seward’s purchase of Alaska to the longtime effort to construct a Central American transoceanic canal, to the U.S. conquest of Puerto Rico and Cuba and to the purchase of the Virgin Islands, Washington took for granted the requirement to safeguard the region.

During World War II, the U.S. exerted considerable effort to protect its interests across the hemisphere, such as occupying Greenland, and assuming control of British naval bases across the Caribbean. Thule Air Base (now the Pituffik Space Base) was built in 1953, boosting NATO’s ability to track Soviet submarines and to enhance satellite and missile defence capabilities.

Yet in recent decades, this long tradition has been abandoned. While Washington was distracted abroad, adversaries rushed to fill the void. Trump’s second term will supplant the vision of foreign policy – liberal internationalism -- that has dominated American decision-makers since 1945. We will hear less about “peacekeeping” across the globe and America as the “indispensable” nation. Realpolitik and power politics are no longer immoral. Trump has begun the process of reorienting Washington’s focus back to the defence of its hemisphere, something that was once axiomatic for the country.  

Regarding Greenland, “People really don’t even know if Denmark has any legal right to it, but if they do, they should give it up because we need it for national security,” Trump remarked. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen gave Trump’s proposal short shrift, stating, “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders.”

But this is not some whim of Trump’s. Greenland’s position at the doorstep of the geopolitically invaluable Arctic Ocean is important. Previously inaccessible maritime pathways are opening and could significantly alter global trade dynamics.

Chief among these is the Northern Sea Route, along Russia’s coast and through the Bering Strait, which could cut transit times between Asia and Europe by as much as 40 per cent. And Russia, with its extensive Arctic coastline, is uniquely positioned to capitalize on this. There is no doubt that Russian (and Chinese) activities and increasing cooperation in the far north pose potential risks, as a U.S. Defence Department 2024 Arctic Strategy memorandum highlights.

The Panama Canal, which sits at the nexus of international political and economic concerns, is another issue Trump is focusing on. It handles about five per cent of global maritime trade volume.

It remained under American control until 1977, when then President Jimmy Carter signed a treaty to gradually hand it over to Panama. Since 1999, the Panama Canal Authority has held exclusive control over the operations of the waterway.

But Trump claims that Panama has violated the 1977 treaty, citing unfair treatment and overcharging of American ships, with China playing a role. China has in fact gained significant control in the operation of the Panama Canal.

“China is operating the Panama Canal and we didn’t give it to China. We gave it to Panama and we’re taking it back,” he said. Panamanian President José Raul Mulino described the claim as “nonsense,” stressing that there was “absolutely no Chinese interference” in the canal.

But Chinese companies have been heavily involved in infrastructure-related contracts in and around the Canal. These projects fit naturally with China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which Panama signed onto in 2018. Chinese companies have since positioned themselves at either end of the Panama Canal through port concession agreements.

Two of the five ports adjacent to the canal, Balboa and Cristobal, which sit on the Pacific and Atlantic sides respectively, have been operated by a subsidiary of Chinese-owned Hutchison Port Holdings since 1997. Chinese companies, both private and state-owned, have also strengthened their presence in Panama through billions of dollars in investments, including a cruise terminal and a bridge to be built over the canal.

Trump is also sending troops to the southern border with Mexico to halt illegal migration, calling this a national emergency, and he has designated Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations that have “engaged in a campaign of violence and terror,” posing a national security risk to the U.S. (He also decided to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.”)

Trump also used the recent Davos economic forum in Switzerland to again suggest Canada join the U.S. He has accused both American neighbours of not doing enough to tackle drug smuggling or stop the movement of migrants across their borders into the U.S.

Trump’s interest in acquiring Greenland, the Panama Canal -- and maybe even Canada? -- is designed to focus America back to its Western Hemisphere sphere of influence, rather than fighting wars all over the world. He is signaling a profound shift in Washington’s posture toward its backyard.