Will the North American Union Make a Comeback?
Is American imperialism back on the menu?
Since taking back the White House this past November, president-elect Donald Trump has hinted at acquiring Greenland from Denmark, using military force to take back the Panama Canal, and even made veiled threats to annex Canada.
Greenland and Panama have strategic importance to the United States, as the former will be a critical geopolitical flashpoint in Washington’s great power competition with Russia in the Arctic Circle. The Northern Sea Route is emerging as one of most important global shipping lanes, which is largely under Russian control.
Due to melting ice caps and improvements in infrastructure, the NSR could significantly reduce the transportation times and costs. Additionally, in contrast to conventional shipping routes such as the Suez Canal, there’s no threat of piracy from Yemeni or Somali militants, no long lines, nor are there costly shipping tolls in the NSR.
Melting polar ice caps would also make it easier for Arctic countries to exploit natural resources such as oil and natural gas. Estimates point to 15% of the world’s undiscovered oil and 30% of the world’s undiscovered natural gas. Highly-coveted rare earth metals are also present in this region. The Arctic appears to be one of the most critical strategic regions in the new “Great Game” of the 21st century, which will see Russia and the United States locked in a heated security competition.
For its part, the Panama Canal was previously under U.S. control from 1903 to 1999 and served as a critical maritime passage. Even after the recently-deceased President Jimmy Carter relinquished control of the canal to Panama, thanks to signing he Torrijos-Carter Treaties, in 1977, the Panama Canal remains a critical maritime passage for international commerce in the Western Hemisphere.
An estimated $270 billion of cargo flows through the Panama Canal and processes roughly 5% of global maritime trade annually. Panama assumed full control of the canal in 1999. Since Panama has gained full control of the canal, there have been fears of an ascendant China potentially taking over the canal.
CK Hutchison Holdings, a Hong Kong-based conglomerate and the world’s premier port investor, operates ports on the Atlantic and Pacific ends of the canal. Due to the intimate relationship Chinese enterprises have with the Communist Party regime, there is speculation among leading US military officials that companies like CK Hutchison could have a “dual use” function and be militarized in the event of a military conflict between China and the United States.
Curiously, Panama has a significant Chinese minority of over 200,000 people of Chinese origin (close to 5% of Panama’s population), which makes it susceptible to Chinese efforts to use the Panamanian Chinese population as a potential fifth column. Such fears are not unfounded owing to the Chinese government’s long-standing efforts to use the United Front Work Department — a government agency tasked with advancing Chinese interests abroad— and entities such as Confucius Institutes to expand its cultural influence.
Should China have its way and take over the canal, the US’s hegemonic status in the Western Hemisphere would be called into question.
With respect to Canada, Trump has made veiled threats of making Canada the 51st state of the United States. He also jokingly referred to outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “governor” after a December meeting in Mar-a-Lago where they discussed the hot-button issue of tariffs. Trump threatened to impose a 25 percent tariff on the Great White North which caused a firestorm in Ottawa. Trudeau had been staring down the barrel of growing crises, which included the resignation of Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland on Dec. 16.
Trudeau tendered his resignation on January 6, 2024 after Canadian voters became increasingly frustrated with Trudeau’s Liberal Party and their inability to address the country’s palpable cost of living, crime, and immigration problems.
With less than a week away from Trump assuming the presidency, 2025 is already shaping up to be a rollercoaster of a political year. To the hyperbolic minds of the mainstream media, Donald Trump‘s remarks about jokingly annexing Canada, annexing Greenland, and reasserting control over the Panama Canal may make him look like a cartoon imperialist.
However, there may be something more at play with respect to Trump’s expansionist outbursts. If Trump’s comments were to be taken at face value, the 47th president would likely not be able achieve any of these lofty goals. Trump is entering office at 78 years of age and will already have his hands full in dealing with the country’s crisis at the southern border with Mexico, rising inflation, and geopolitical crises in the Middle East and Ukraine. Vastly expanding the United States’ borders is a pie-in-the sky proposal at this point.
That said, Trump floating the idea of territorial expansion could be a sneak preview of the ruling class’s geopolitical pivot toward creating a “North American Union.” Once the domain of conspiracy circles, the move towards forging the NAU has gained traction among elites in the Western Hemisphere in the last three decades. Foreign affairs writer Robert Pastor called for greater North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) integration and the establishment of a “North American Community” where the borders of Canada, Mexico, and the United States would be gradually erased.
Throughout the administration of George W. Bush, there was a concerted effort to pass amnesty for illegal aliens despite Americans being firmly opposed to such a proposal. As a consummate globalist, whose family has extensive business interests in Mexico, Bush viewed amnesty as a critical step towards eroding United States sovereignty and creating the conditions for it to deepen its ties with Mexico. Thankfully, Bush’s amnesty plans never came to pass during his administration.
Voters rejected the globalist, open borders consensus when they pulled the lever for Donald Trump in 2016 and 2024. In both campaigns, Trump ran on a strong immigration restriction agenda. Whether or not the rest of the Republican Party gets in line with Trump to halt mass migration remains to be seen.
Nevertheless, Trump’s off-the-cuff remarks about expanding the United States’ reach may not be random ramblings, but rather the manifestation, albeit with a crasser delivery, of the revealed preferences of the chattering classes. New geopolitical realities are compelling the US to readjust its defense strategies as the rising Eurasian powers of China and Russia are gradually pushing the US out of their respective spheres of influence.
The rough sketch of Trump’s strategic vision looks like a throwback to the Monroe Doctrine, wherein the US would be more focused on Western Hemisphere affairs and avoid intervening abroad provided that other major powers from Eurasia not intervene in Uncle Sam’s backyard — a reasonable approach to foreign policy in contrast to the neoconservative consensus in Washington.
In fairness, this shift in strategic focus could easily be co-opted. Certain factions of the globalists may have made peace with the fact the unipolar moment is over, and the United States can’t project power like it could in decades prior. In turn, they will have the United States retrench and concentrate their efforts on Western Hemispheric affairs, namely taking steps towards creating a supranational political structure.
Even under Trump’s first term, NAFTA was replaced with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) that ironed out some of the kinks of the preceding trade structure. Nevertheless, the USMCA still maintained and went as far as to create new mechanisms such as a “Competitiveness Committee” to ensure increased economic integration with the three major North American economies.
It’s unlikely Trump will play a major role in making the NAU fantasy project come into fruition, but that could change with succeeding administrations who are not as committed to pursuing a nationalist agenda. Under the pretext of great power competition, US decisionmakers can make the case for establishing a North American superstate. Neoliberal writers such as Matthew Yglesias have already authored works such as “One Billion Americans” to make the case that public policy — through the use of increased immigration and generous social benefits to encourage family formation — should strive to grow the United States’ population to 1 billion in order to compete with an ascendant China.
The creation of an NAU would certainly put the United States on track to achieving Matthew Yglesias’s wet dream of reaching 1 billion Americans. With the United States no longer being able to remake the Eurasian landmass in its own image, retrenchment can buy elites a few years to regroup and refocus their globalist project on the Western Hemisphere – a region that’s much closer to home and likely more susceptible to neocon and liberal interventionist trickery.
At this juncture, the United States is just playing the game of accumulating as much biomass as possible, consequences be damned. There’s no consideration for the long-term effects of mass migration and other policies that undermine the country’s sovereignty and ethnic stock.
If our leaders want to expand so badly and reach new frontiers, they should look to the stars. But to return to the cosmos and conquer outer space, the racial talent that enabled the United States to reach the heavens must be preserved and championed.
Under the current anti-White system, we live in, that is simply not possible.
José Niño is a Hispanic dissident who is well aware of the realities of race from his experience living throughout Latin America and in the States.
As a native of lands conquered by brave Spaniards but later subverted by centuries of multiracial trickery and despotic governance, José offers clear warnings to Americans about the perils of multiracialism.
“Due to melting ice caps and improvements in infrastructure, the NSR could significantly reduce the transportation times and costs.”
Except they are not melting.
‘Due to melting ice caps’ …
Sorry, Jose … once you start off with a lie … you’ve lost your readership entirely …
Re”Anthony..and Mr.Gerbils…Bingo!