Trump’s Recent Actions Is Moving The Needle Towards WW3

On January 3, President Trump ordered the U.S. Delta Force entered Venezuela and captured President Maduro, a democratically elected head of state, and have he and his wife taken back to the US to stand trial on charges of narco-terrorism and cocaine importation to the U.S.

Having removed Maduro from office, the U.S. is taking control of Venezuela oil resources, seeking to gain compensation for lost investments and revenues suffered by U.S. oil companies who were forced out by Hugo Chaves, Maduro’s predecessor about 2 decades ago.

Beyond the above reasons, Trump’s broader effort is to push Russia and China out of Venezuela. Russia has supplied some military weapons to Venezuela. China has invested heavily there. Currently, about 80% of Venezuelan oil is exported to China, although, the volume itself is not large.

The ultimate goal is have Russia and China leave Latin America in alignment with the revived Monroe Doctrine. [Monroe Doctrine: U.S. foreign policy established in 1823 that asserts the Western Hemisphere is under the exclusive influence of the United States and opposes any further European colonization or interference in the Americas. Of course, it applies to any foreign powers, not just the Europeans].

Questioned whether his actions and authority are legitimate, Trump insists that he does not need international law, and his power is constrained only by his own morality. Many, including the United Nations, condemned his actions as a disruption of the Rules-Based International Order.

Denmark, What Is Yours Is Mine

As though the Venezuela undertaking is not upsetting enough, Trump is serious about forcefully taking over Greenland which belongs to the Kingdom of Denmark. Greenland is the world's largest island located north-east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. View from space over the North Pole, Greenland lies between Canada and Russia. Here lies its geo strategic importance to Trump. He raises the alarm about Russia-China’s joint effort in opening up the Arctic as an alternative trade route - the Arctic's Northern Sea Route (NSR). The NSR is a shorter route between Asia and Europe that bypasses traditional routes like the Suez Canal.

Why is the NSR a grave concerns to the U.S.? Apart from it commercial benefits to Russia and China, there is also a growing military presence of their respective navies. Thus, to the U.S., Greenland is considered critical for defense, particularly for the setting up of missile early-warning systems and for the monitoring of naval activities in the Arctic region.

Trump’s foresight is commendable but the way or means by which he will acquire Greenland is a tough call. If he uses military force against the Greenlanders it would provoke international condemnation especially by Denmark and the other NATO member countries as Denmark is also a NATO member. Alternatively, he could get his way by engaging in extensive arm-twisting to gain support from both the Greenlanders themselves and the Denmark authorities.

Considering the whole process and time it will take to finally build the missile early-warning systems and other related facilities on Greenland, it appears that time is not on the U.S. side. Why? The reason is because the war between Russia and the U.S. would have broken out by then.