Statement by the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security, January 20, 2026.
The Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security opposes and condemns President Trump’s imperial and neocolonial campaign of coercion to seize Greenland, an integral domain of Denmark.
Trump’s ambitions for Greenland are part of the increased strategic and commercial competition for influence and potentially control of the Arctic and the northwest passage. Greenland’s mineral wealth, including rare earth minerals, has increasing economic importance.
However, as Trump himself has said, his desire for Greenland is more psychological than strategic. The United States already has agreements with Denmark that assure access to Greenland by the US – including military basing – going back to 1951. It is difficult to imagine that agreements with Denmark and other European nations could not have also assured US access on an equitable basis to Greenland’s mineral wealth. Diplomatic discussions between US, European, Russian and Chinese diplomats have been ongoing, seeking ways to ensure mutual access and benefits in the Arctic region.
CPDCS has long been critical of NATO which was initially designed to keep “…Russia out, Germany down, and the United States in”. NATO has become a global imperial military alliance.
At the same time, the implosion of NATO as a consequence of Trump’s nineteenth century megalomaniacal imperialism does nothing to ensure global peace or the security of Europe. More, attempts to seize Greenland, in one way or another, will inevitably alienate the United States from the people, democratic traditions, and benefits of collaboration with Europeans with whom we share Enlightenment democratic traditions.
The Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security encourages international economic and security cooperation to ensure that the resources of the Arctic region serve the needs of its people and of all humankind.