"Whether Trump ever truly believed the US should acquire a vast Arctic territory belonging to a Nato ally is secondary to the fact that, once again, he ensured that Europe and the rest of the world were focused on his agenda. Trump is not a politician who responds to events he seeks to make them. Not because he is deeply invested in policy detail, but because he understands a defining feature of contemporary politics: attention is power."
"In an era of information overload, there is no scarcity of data or analysis; what is lacking is attention. And whoever controls that controls the debate. Steve Bannon once described Trump's domestic strategy as flood the zone with shit. In other words, create so many scandals that opponents no longer know which ones matter. The media chases everything, the opposition is perpetually outraged and no one has the mental space to set their own priorities."
Donald Trump turned the Greenland episode into a spectacle, prioritizing attention over policy detail. Attention functions as power in contemporary politics, and deliberate provocation can hijack the news cycle. The tactic mirrors Steve Bannon's 'flood the zone with shit' approach: generate so many scandals that opponents lose focus and the media chases everything. The Greenland threats acted as geopolitical clickbait to force other governments into reaction and to crowd out longer-term strategic thinking. Greenland combined strategic Arctic importance with public unfamiliarity, producing dramatic headlines and vague speculation while provoking anxieties about NATO solidarity, Arctic security and a semi‑autonomous territory's vulnerability. Denmark has increased its military presence there with quiet European support.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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