Kuala Lampur, Jan. 10 -- When Donald Trump speaks warmly about the people of Russia and China, and even claims to enjoy cordial relations with their leaders, his follow-up line is revealing: "But I don't want them as a neighbour in Greenland - not going to happen."

This is not a contradiction. It is a clear expression of power politics stripped of diplomatic varnish.

Trump's position reflects a worldview in which affection for peoples coexists with zero tolerance for strategic proximity. Greenland, in this calculus, is not a frozen backwater. It is a geopolitical red line.

Strategic irredentism, American-style

Irredentism is often understood as a desire to reclaim lost ethnic or historical lands.

The American version is different. It...