Trumpeting US annexation of Canada, Greenland may not be wishful thinking
By Nantoo Banerjee
There seems to exist a method in US President-elect Donald Trump’s madness when he talks about his desire to annex Canada and Greenland, and renaming the Gulf of Mexico among others. A US annexation of Canada is possible through a treaty between the two countries involving the British Monarch, or a referendum by Canadian citizens in favour of joining the US, or through the use of force. Canada’s economy is highly dependent on the United States of America. Forcible occupation of countries is nothing new even in the post-colonial era. The US has been interested in grabbing the vast territory of Canada ever since its creation under the British North America Act of 1867. Canada is a bijural (existence of two legal systems within a single state) country. The legal concepts are expressed in both English and French. The British Monarch, King Charles III, is the constitutional head of Canada. Although he does not rule the country, the British King is a fundamental part of Canada’s government and identity.
However, the US is yet to make a serious attempt to take over Canada, the world’s second largest country by geographical area of over 9.98 million square kilometres. A US annexation of Canada will make it the world’s largest country, ahead of Russia, with a total area of 17,098,242 sq.km. The territorial expansion of the US is nothing new. It is provided by the US constitution. Trump knows it. So are the other political leaders of the US, both Republicans and Democrats. Few have dismissed Trump’s latest bellicose rhetoric. There is no serious political debate in the US on Trump’s suggestion to annex Canada and acquire Greenland through a treaty with Denmark.
A continuous territorial expansion and acquisition form a part of the US geo-political history. World historians know how the US annexed the present-day states of California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas and Wyoming. Canada and Greenland could be the next. A constitutional architecture exists in the US to make it happen. There is both potential and precedent for the US to acquire territory through cession or subjugation. Even a forcible annexation of Canada is most unlikely to be opposed militarily by any other power. In the past, many militarily strong countries, including the US, Russia, China, India, the UK, France and Israel, have forcibly occupied or retained territories with little opposition from third parties.
China’s invasion of Tibet in 1950 was the quietest of all foreign territorial annexations. The news of Chinese military occupation of Tibet, known as the ‘roof of the world’, travelled so slowly that most Tibetans were even unaware of it until 1952. China has occupied several territories, including Xinjiang, Hainan, and Zhoushan. Tibet is about one-eighth of China’s total land mass. The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) is the second-largest province-level division of China by area after Xinjiang. Nonconformist Communist China annexed the Islamic state of Xinjiang and the Buddhist territory of Tibet to become the world’s third largest country by total land area, after Russia and Canada. China, which wants more, has territorial disputes with many countries, including India, Japan, Vietnam, Bhutan, and the Philippines. It claims territory of Taiwan, and the South China Sea. China administers Aksai Chin, known to be an Indian territory.
One may say that India itself annexed Hyderabad, Goa, Daman and Diu and Sikkim – all independent territories within the state of India at the time of its freedom from British rule. India annexed Goa from Portuguese control in 1961 after occupying it. Indonesia annexed Western New Guinea in 1963. North Vietnam occupied South Vietnam after a prolonged war with the US armed forces. Israel annexed the Western Golan Heights in 1967. Northern Cyprus has remained under Turkey’s occupation since 1974.
Among the 14 foreign territories still controlled by the UK are: Anguilla; Bermuda; British Antarctic Territory (BAT); British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT); British Virgin Islands; Cayman Islands; Falkland Islands; Gibraltar; Montserrat; Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands; Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha; and South Georgia. Overseas France consists of as many as 13 foreign territories outside Europe. Russia controls parts of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts of Kharkiv and Mykolaiv. Ukraine controls parts of Kursk Oblast.
Thus, Trump’s openly marketing the idea of acquiring Canada and Greenland seems to be nothing new or unusual. Earlier, Canada was under the British occupation. Greenland is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. Unlike the US interest in Canada, the American government has been trying to annex Greenland for a long time. During the Second World War, the US invoked its Monroe Doctrine to militarily occupy Greenland to prevent itself from a possible attack by Hitler after Denmark’s surrender to the German forces. A 1951 treaty with the Danish government gave the US significant responsibility over Greenland’s defence, including “exclusive jurisdiction” over militarily sensitive areas.
To what extent the US perceives its objective to acquire Canada and Greenland will be seen in the coming years. The international law does not allow forcible occupation of a country through military force. Under international law, annexation violates the prohibition of using threatening force and it should be recognised as illegal.
(IPA Service)