Greenland Exposes Europe’s Misread Lesson of Appeasement: Essay

If there was one word on the lips of almost every European over the past week — other than Greenland — it was “appeasement.” The term coined in the 1930s to describe Britain and France’s policy of acquiescence toward Germany’s territorial ambitions has been invoked constantly in response to Donald Trump’s threats to annex the Arctic island from Denmark. This weekend, European leaders are congratulating themselves for having learned the lessons of that earlier episode by standing firm against the US president, forcing him to back down on threats to use military force or impose tariffs on Denmark’s ...