Trump's Greenland threats echo dark moments of cold war alliances

"Now an even more disturbing Kremlin precedent dating from the cold war is being evoked by the US president's fixation on taking over Greenland that of carrying out attacks on military allies. The Soviet Union invaded its allied communist partners twice as it engaged in a long ideological and military standoff with the capitalist west, and openly asserted the right to intervene in the affairs of other allies if they deviated from policies dictated by Moscow."

"Trump's repeated assertion that the US needs Greenland for national security purposes and his refusal to rule out acquiring it by military force has set Washington on a collision course with Denmark, a Nato ally that has sovereignty over the autonomous, self-governing territory. Trump has said it may be a choice between taking control of Greenland and keeping Nato intact."

"Soviet troops invaded Hungary in 1956 to suppress a popular uprising that threatened to topple Budapest's communist regime, with up to 3,000 people killed in bloody street fighting. In 1968, Moscow staged an invasion this time including forces from other Warsaw Pact nations of Czechoslovakia to squash the liberalising Prague Spring, which was led by the country's communist leader, Alexander Dubcek, who ushered in new freedoms intended to create socialism with a human face."

Donald Trump's repetition of Russian talking points and his fixation on acquiring Greenland have raised concerns about invoking a Soviet-era precedent of attacking allies to secure strategic aims. His refusal to rule out military acquisition of Greenland and framing it as a choice against preserving NATO places the United States on a collision course with Denmark, which governs the autonomous territory. The Soviet Union previously invaded Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968 to suppress deviations from Moscow's line, asserting a right to intervene when allied governments diverged. Those invasions were justified by the Soviets as necessary to preserve the Warsaw Pact.

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