Europe’s Greenland Moment Exposes a Misread Lesson of Appeasement
Invoking the 1930s to confront Donald Trump over Greenland misses the real lesson of how Britain and France prepared for a world sliding into disorder.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, right, with fellow EU members seated at the roundtable before an emergency European Union summit in Brussels, Belgium, on Jan. 22.
Photographer: Simon Wohlfahrt/BloombergIf there was one word on the lips of almost every European over the past week — other than Greenland — it was “appeasement.” The term coined in the 1930s to describe Britain and France’s policy of acquiescence toward Germany’s territorial ambitions has been invoked constantly in response to Donald Trump’s threats to annex the Arctic island from Denmark. This weekend, European leaders are congratulating themselves for having learned the lessons of that earlier episode by standing firm against the US president, forcing him to back down on threats to use military force or impose tariffs on Denmark’s European allies in pursuit of his goal.
Whether Europeans are right to be so self-congratulatory remains to be seen. The details of the “framework” for Arctic security agreed between NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and the US president in Davos remain sketchy. Denmark and Greenland were not party to the discussions. And the fact that Trump was prepared to make such threats suggests the transatlantic alliance is irreparably damaged. Trump has continued to claim — outrageously, given the sacrifices made by European forces in America’s recent wars — that he doubts Europeans would defend America, while giving Europeans reasons to doubt America would come to Europe’s aid.