E-International Relations, 17 February, 2026.
In the article, Erdem Lamazhapov argues that President Donald Trump’s renewed bid to acquire Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) cannot be fully explained by narrow security or resource interests; instead, it should be understood as part of a broader political project aimed at reasserting US great-power identity and building a sphere of influence in what the author describes as an emerging post-rules-based international order.
Lamazhapov situates Trump’s Greenland campaign within the context of the administration’s drive to redefine the United States’ role in a world where traditional post-1945 international norms are eroding, suggesting that the push for control of Greenland reflects a symbolic reassertion of U.S. strategic status rather than purely practical calculations.
