Everything is connected
Geopolitical strategies, capabilities, and interactions focusing on how these dynamics influence security, relations, and Canadian interests.
The US has suspended all assistance to the government of Somalia, alleging, without evidence, that officials destroyed a UN World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse and seized “donor-funded food aid”.
US state department made the statement via the social media.
Trump on Wednesday, January 7, 2026, signed an executive order suspending US support and participation in 66 organizations, agencies, and commissions, most of which are UN-related.
Non-UN organizations on the list include the Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, and the Global Counterterrorism Forum.
The Trump administration categorized them as catering to diversity and “woke” initiatives.
Trump’s decision to withdraw from organizations that foster cooperation among nations to address global challenges comes as the US administration has launched military efforts or issued threats that have rattled allies and adversaries alike, including the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and pressing their intention to own Greenland.
Setting: Rising tensions as the Trump administration continues to apply pressure in it’s desire to acquire Greenland.
Trump on Wednesday January 7, 2026, attacked NATO’s reliability, claiming he was not convinced the alliance would come to the aid of the US in a crisis.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright at the Goldman Sachs Energy, CleanTech & Utilities Conference in Miami on Wednesday January 7, 2026, said the US intends to maintain significant control over Venezuela’s oil industry, including by overseeing the sale of the country’s production “indefinitely.”
“Going forward we will sell the production that comes out of Venezuela into the marketplace,” Wright said.
Continue reading “US plans to control Venezuela oil sales ‘indefinitely’”
Globe & Mail:
… A plausible scenario for US application of military force against Canada to seize our oil resources goes something like this. An independence referendum in Alberta – during which separatists receive a huge infusion of grey MAGA money – sees a majority vote to remain part of Canada, but with 30 per cent or more voting for separation. Mr. Trump declares the result is “fake” and that actual support for separation was “well over” 50 per cent. Alberta separatists then appeal to the US for help, claiming various kinds of oppression. The US moves troops to the northern Montana border and tells the rest of Canada that Alberta must be allowed to join America as the “51st state.”
Lomiko Metals, a company based in British Columbia, is to build an open-air graphite mine in La Petite-Nation, in the Outaouais region on the western edge of Quebec.
Once operational, the open-pit mine will produce 100,000 tonnes of graphite per year for 15 years.
In 2024, the ‘US Department of Defense’ announced it would invest US$8.3m in the project through their ‘Defense Production Act’ investment program, to ensure the availability of resources needed for US interests and their national defence.
“Greenland belongs to its people, and only Denmark and Greenland can decide on matters concerning their relations,” the leaders of the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Denmark said in a joint statement on Tuesday January 6, 2026.
“NATO has made clear that the Arctic region is a priority and European Allies are stepping up,” the statement said. “We and many other Allies have increased our presence, activities, and investments, to keep the Arctic safe and to deter adversaries.”
Continue reading “European leaders rally to support Denmark and Greenland”
A world divided into spheres of influence poses decisive new challenges to the sovereignty of the states inside them. Canada and Mexico will watch what happened in Venezuela and begin thinking the unthinkable. What if they have to defend themselves, not against Russia and China, but against their next-door neighbour?
The predators who promote spheres of influence promise us a more stable world: no more global policemen, no more universalist moral claims like human rights, warranting intrusion in the affairs of predators. Stability will be built henceforth on forthright moral relativism—what’s right for me is my business, what’s right for you is your business—and peace depends on armed deterrence in a law of the jungle.
In the world we’ve entered, weaker countries must learn self-reliance, resilience and guile to keep the predators at bay. A weak and divided Europe can’t continue to give America moral lessons, while trying to regulate America’s economic giants. Its entire rationale as a political project depends now on giving itself the capital markets to build their own economic strength and the military capability to defend themselves. Canada and Mexico must make a lot of new friends fast, establish new economic connections, and break down its internal barriers to an efficient and productive economy. If these middling powers face up to their own difficulties, a new multilateralism could take shape, brought into concert by their shared desire to hem in the power of the predators. If the middle powers band together, they might get through the 21st century with their sovereignties enhanced. If they go it alone or make the mistake of cozying up to one or other of the predators, they might find themselves swallowed up by one of the beasts.
Source: Michael Ignatieff’s Substack, January 4, 2026
In an interview with NBC News, Trump said new Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez was cooperating in the wake of the US military invasion into Venezuela’s capital that led to the capture of the country’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, on Saturday, January 3, 2026.
Trump added his plans initially anticipated having to send in American forces again following the first operation, but that he currently does not believe a second attack will be necessary.
Still, Trump insisted that the US is “at war with people that sell drugs,” not with Venezuela.
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty on Monday in New York City federal court to drug trafficking charges.
Source:
Jacob Wendler, Politico: Trump says he’s prepared to send more US troops to Venezuela if interim president doesn’t cooperate
The division of the world into spheres of influence implies that smaller countries cannot influence events, and it’s a grave mistake to imagine Venezuelans won’t try. Many of them wanted an American intervention, are overjoyed that Maduro is gone, and no wonder: He and his predecessor, Hugo Chávez, together turned the richest country in South America into the poorest, fortifying their ugly security state with guns and surveillance systems purchased from autocracies around the world.
But now that Maduro is gone, the people who fought for years for justice, freedom, and self-determination aren’t going to want to live in a Trump-backed dictatorship staffed with Maduro’s cronies. One Venezuelan exile, who requested anonymity because of risks to his family, told me that on Saturday, he felt like he was on a roller coaster. First the elation of Maduro’s exit, then the shock of Trump’s press conference, then the angry realization that maybe nothing has changed and he still can’t go home.