Past Present Future Talking Geopolitics with Helen Thompson: The Weirdness of American Power Part 2
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Jan 28, 2026 
Helen Thompson, political economist specializing in geopolitics and international political economy, breaks down why American power feels strange today. She discusses US-China competition, Greenland and Arctic strategic tensions, territorial politics and Trump’s place in long-term trends. Energy transitions, shale, and resource contests reshaping global alignments also feature prominently.
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Greenland Recurs Through US History
- Helen Thompson traces US interest in Greenland across multiple historical junctures from 1867 through the Cold War.
- She shows Trump's Greenland move fits a long pattern, even if his style is uniquely brazen.
19th-Century Rhetoric, 21st-Century Targets
- Trump's rhetoric and territorial framing revive a 19th-century mode of politics applied to 21st-century issues.
- That makes his actions feel like conquest rather than treaty-based strategic diplomacy.
Greenland as NATO Stress Test
- Greenland pressures NATO's bargain by exposing European reliance on US security guarantees.
- Trump uses such flashpoints to test whether collective security remains a taken-for-granted background fact.