On matters of national security
NBC News is reporting that Trump is increasingly complaining to aides about Canada’s vulnerability to adversaries in the Arctic.
As Trump works toward annexing Greenland, he has intensified his criticism of what he sees as Canada’s similar inability to defend its borders against any encroachment from Russia or China.
Continue reading “Trump is again fixated with Canada’s Arctic”
Greenland is not a marginal issue for Europeans. Threats against it cut to the heart of the idea of Europe, of sovereignty, international law and trust. Key European leaders recently stressed they are united in their position that it is up to Denmark and Greenland to decide their own fate — and no one else. The potential for a crisis is real, and what is most confounding is that this would be a crisis that is entirely unnecessary and easily avoidable.
Threatening to annex territory belonging to a NATO ally strikes at the very foundation of the alliance. NATO is not merely a military grouping; it is a community of liberal democracies that has endured precisely because its members trust — and do not threaten — one another. They consult, negotiate and resolve disputes peacefully. This shared political culture is not a luxury — it is NATO’s greatest strategic asset. It sets us apart from those that depend on threats and tricks to keep their “friends” together.
Continue reading “An attack on Greenland “would make America weaker, not safer””
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday, January 18, 2026, defended the president’s calls for the US to take over Greenland amid concerns from European allies that an annexation would destroy NATO relations.
The president’s intensifying focus on Canada behind closed doors, whose relationship with the US has been deeply strained since he came into office, comes as he transforms some of his longtime criticisms of America’s neighbours in the Western Hemisphere into actions aimed at expanding US power in the region.
Protecting Canada’s northern border is a key part of Trump and his top aides’ vision of “solidifying” the Western Hemisphere, as one of the US officials put it. As the Americans see it, the acquisition of Greenland would also benefit Canada.
Continue reading “US increasingly focused on Canada to ensuring American dominance in the Arctic”
The US Department of War has ordered some 1,500 active-duty soldiers to prepare for a possible deployment to Minnesota, US defence officials told The Washington Post on Saturday, January 18, 2026.
The soldiers are from two infantry battalions with the Army’s 11th Airborne Division, based in Alaska and specializes in cold-weather operations.
Continue reading “Pentagon ordered 1,500 soldiers to prepare for a possible deployment to Minnesota”
Alan Jones, a former Assistant Director of Operations for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) discusses the threats Canada faces, intelligence sharing, and whether or not the US poses a threat to Canada now and the extent to which that might affect intelligence sharing between Canada and the US.
The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday, January 16, 2026, urged US aircraft operators to “exercise caution” when flying over the eastern Pacific Ocean near Mexico, Central America and parts of South America, citing “military activities” and possible satellite navigation interference.
The warning was issued in a series of Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs) issued by the FAA. They say, “Potential risks exist for aircraft at all altitudes, including during overflight and the arrival and departure phases of flight.” The alerts are in effect for 60 days. Such notices are issued routinely in any region where there are hostilities nearby.
Source: AP https://apnews.com/article/faa-flight-warnings-pacific-ocean-dd0cbe105d75f6d8acf16f02884865c0
Greenland, Iran, Russia, Ukraine, Venezuela ‒ In a wide-ranging conversation with DW Washington Bureau Chief Ines Pohl, retired US General Ben Hodges offers a blunt and deeply critical assessment of the US’ current foreign and security policy.
Hodges warns of serious damage to NATO, questions the lack of long-term strategy behind recent military actions, and explains why Ukraine is far from losing — and why that still matters for Europe’s security.
Amid continued threats by Trump to annex Greenland, the territory of Denmark, a fellow NATO member, multiple outlets report Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Canada are sending troops to Greenland.
The deployment is not meant to spark a confrontation against the US, but a measure to ensure the common security interests of all NATO partners.
Around 4:40 a.m. on Jan. 6, just a few days after the US capture of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, armed men intercepted a bus carrying civilians and several policemen on the main highway near Tibú, a town on the Colombian side of the border with Venezuela. They ordered passengers to hand over their phones for inspection, and then proceeded to kidnap five police officers.
The assailants were members of the National Liberation Army, or E.L.N., a Colombian guerrilla group that started off mounting a leftist insurgency in the 1960s but has since expanded into criminal enterprises. As many as half of its roughly 6,300 fighters are now based in Venezuela, where they have, at least until this month, enjoyed an alliance of mutual convenience with the government.
Continue reading “Something is brewing along the Colombia‒Venezuela border”