Making sense ...

President-elect Donald J. Trump has accused Panama of price-gouging American ships traversing the Panama Canal, and suggested that unless that changed, he would abandon the decades-old treaty that returned all control of the canal zone to Panama.Credit...Federico Rios for The New York Times

As much as I detest Agent Orange, the notion of reestablishing control over the Panama Canal and gaining control over Greenland vis a vis China's incursions into South America and their increased interest in the Arctic due to Global Warming's opening of trade routes, makes sense if one adheres to The Art of War in being totally aware of an enemy's intent as said knowledge is essential if one is to maintain the balance of power, thus limiting the dire possibility of a war where nobody wins. How this can be accomplished and should this be accomplished are serious questions to be asked because the great game of politiis equates to the game of chess writ large.

To whit.

Over the past two days, President-elect Donald J. Trump has made clear that he has designs for American territorial expansion, declaring that the United States has both security concerns and commercial interests that can best be addressed by bringing the Panama Canal and Greenland under American control or outright ownership.

Mr. Trump’s tone has had none of the trolling jocularity that surrounded his repeated suggestions in recent weeks that Canada should become America’s “51st state,” including his social media references to the country’s beleaguered prime minister as “Governor Justin Trudeau.”

Instead, while naming a new ambassador to Denmark — which controls Greenland’s foreign and defense affairs — Mr. Trump made clear on Sunday that his first-term offer to buy the landmass could, in the coming term, become a deal the Danes cannot refuse.

He appears to covet Greenland both for its strategic location at a time when the melting of Arctic ice is opening new commercial and naval competition and for its reserves of rare earth minerals needed for advanced technology.

Strategic importance of Greenland cannot be overstated

On Saturday evening, he had accused Panama of price-gouging American ships traversing the canal, and suggested that unless that changed, he would abandon the Jimmy Carter-era treaty that returned all control of the canal zone to Panama.

“The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous,” he wrote, just ahead of an increase in the charges scheduled for Jan. 1. “This complete ‘rip-off’ of our country will immediately stop.”

He went on to express worry that the canal could fall into the “wrong hands,” an apparent reference to China, the second-largest user of the canal. A Hong Kong-based firm controls two ports near the canal, but China has no control over the canal itself.

Chess pieces – left to right: king, rook, queen, pawn, knight and bishop.