In 2014, Vladimir Putin seized the Crimea, even though Russia had previously recognized Ukrainian sovereignty over the peninsula. The US government is now pressuring Ukraine to accept Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea.
Xi Jinping suggests that Mainland China will take back Taiwan. He hopes the reunification will be peaceful, but refuses to rule out the use of force:
Chinese leader Xi Jinping said on Saturday that a “peaceful” reunification of Taiwan with China’s mainland was in Beijing’s interests, despite ratcheted up military threats against the self-governing island. . . .
“Reunification of the nation must be realized, and will definitely be realized,” Xi vowed before an audience of politicians, military personnel and others gathered in the hulking chamber that serves as the seat of China’s ceremonial legislature.
“Reunification through a peaceful manner is the most in line with the overall interest of the Chinese nation, including Taiwan compatriots,” the leader added.
President Trump suggests that the US will acquire the Danish island of Greenland. He hopes the acquisition will be peaceful, but refuses to rule out the use of force:
The Danish foreign minister on Saturday scolded the Trump administration for its “tone” in criticizing Denmark and Greenland, saying his country is already investing more into Arctic security and remains open to more cooperation with the U.S.
Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen made the remarks in a video posted to social media after U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s visit to the strategic island. Later Saturday, though, U.S. President Donald Trump maintained an aggressive tone, telling NBC News that “I never take military force off the table” in regards to acquiring Greenland.
The Panama Canal is another target of the Trump administration.
After WWII, there was a period of many decades when the use of force to acquire additional territory was widely discredited. Argentina tried in 1982, and failed. Iraq tried in 1980 and 1990, and failed both times.
Now, as the legacy of WWII fades ever further into the past, the doctrine of might makes right is seeing a resurgence. The strong bully the weak in both military and trade wars.
If the US intends to abandon NATO, the best hope of smaller nations is to strengthen their mutual defense alliances, perhaps even creating a unified European defense force. Even then, it would be considerably weaker than the US military. But deterrence doesn’t need military superiority to be successful, it merely needs to be strong enough to inflict considerable pain on its adversaries. Switzerland’s military wasn’t strong enough to defeat Germany in WWII, but they were strong enough so that Germany did not consider it worthwhile to attack. Europe needs a military force that is strong enough that the American public would have no stomach for an invasion of Denmark.
Consider the porcupine.
PS. Here’s the NYT:
Relative to the size of its economy, Denmark has donated more to the [Ukraine] war effort than any other country.
Military historian Edward Luttwak suggests that the Danes are among the world’s most formidable soldiers, willing to fight while peacekeepers from other nations cower in fear.
READER COMMENTS
Alexander Search
Apr 24 2025 at 2:44pm
Only tangentially related but maybe still interesting to readers of this post is the YouTube video `watch?v=zsZ9LRj0IkM`. It’s a recent series of interviews, published on the channel ‘Mandarin Corner’, of everyday Joe Schmoes in southern China about their opinions on Russia.
People elsewhere definitely do not see the world the way most Americans do.
Why, though? How do different people, trying to understand the exact same situation, arrive at such rabidly contradictory conclusions?
William Connolley
Apr 24 2025 at 5:46pm
Errrm, Argentina / Falklands is an example of might-makes-right; the Argies didn’t back down in the face of diplomacy, they surrendered to superior force. Ditto Iraq.
Mactoul
Apr 24 2025 at 10:08pm
Might does make right. All existing national territories are maintained by nothing more and nothing less than might. Absent might, any of these territories would be eaten up by a neighbor. There are plenty of recent examples. China occupied Tibet in 1949. East Timor is another one.
Continued defense expenditures by all countries suggest that might is right is merely sleeping, not dead.
Scott Sumner
Apr 25 2025 at 12:07pm
“There are plenty of recent examples. China occupied Tibet in 1949.”
This made me smile, especially the term “recent”.
nobody.really
Apr 24 2025 at 10:24pm
“[I]n Italy, for 30 years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed; but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love; they had 500 years of democracy and peace—and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock!” Orsen Wells (ad-libbed), The Third Man (1949).
Of course, during the time of the Borgias reign, the Swiss had the most feared military in Europe; that’s why Popes have chosen to be defended by the Swiss Guard since 1506. And in any event, cockoo clocks come from Germany.
Scott Sumner
Apr 25 2025 at 12:11pm
A great scene in a great film, but Switzerland actually does have numerous outstanding cultural achievements: Einstein, Le Corbusier, Rousseau, Walser, and many others.
Philippe Bélanger
Apr 26 2025 at 6:05pm
As Ukraine’s difficulties show, such a porcupine strategy can be hard to maintain when the population imbalance between the attacking and defending countries is important.
It seems to me that the most straightforward way for a small country to overcome this problem is to acquire nuclear weapons.
Scott Sumner
Apr 27 2025 at 2:22pm
“It seems to me that the most straightforward way for a small country to overcome this problem is to acquire nuclear weapons.”
Good point. I fear that this will be the outcome of recent US shifts in foreign policy.
Comments are closed.