Donald Trump's attempt to take Greenland shows how both U.S. imperialism and Danish paternalist colonialism limit small nations struggling for real independence. If implemented, economic self-reliance and political independence coincide with imperialism and colonialism.
Danish colonialism in Greenland shifted toward a form of hegemony. Despite apparent changes, this transformation left the Inuit population in a position of dependency, relegating them to the periphery of the broader economic and political structures dominated by Denmark. One of the most notable examples of this dynamic was the cryolite quarry at Ivittuut, which operated from 1854 to 1987.
