From the beginning, America has been a nation of intrepid explorers and adventurers that pushed into frontiers and settled distant lands.
Indeed, expansion was not only baked into American DNA from conception but even once considered its Manifest Destiny.
And through this Manifest Destiny, America grew meteorically from a mere 13 colonies into a colossal nation spanning an entire continent.
A mighty power not only capable of fully securing itself but able to expel the very European empires that once subjugated it from the entire American hemisphere.
Despite this history, however, and even as the U.S. population swelled and demands upon its resources grew, over the past few decades America has been more apt to give back what it formerly possessed than to acquire additional territory.
And whereas the Monroe Doctrine once reigned supreme, foreign adversaries like China now use America’s backyard as their own playground, seemingly without consequence.
But after a long hiatus, America is suddenly rediscovering its expansionary roots with President Trump speaking openly about purchasing Greenland, making Canada the 51st state, and reclaiming the Panama Canal.
While detractors decry that such things are no longer done or should even be contemplated in this civilized day and age, what is old is quickly becoming new again as the post-Cold-War order rapidly disintegrates and history returns.
As it does, the world is entering a new age of conquest with great power competition and spheres of influence reminiscent of previous eras.
To prosper, or simply survive, in this new age, just as corporations seek vertical integration to control resources, supply chains, and means of production to achieve greater self-sufficiency, acquire leverage over competitors, and reduce dependencies, nations must likewise do the same.
Those nations that can effectively do so will dictate to those who cannot.
In its quest to be crowned king of this emerging jungle, China, for one, keenly understands this fact, and has embarked upon its own Manifest Destiny for this purpose.
Seeking control over critical global supply chains, China is aggressively gobbling up resources in places like Africa and Latin America while establishing a new form of colonialism.
Further, China’s Belt and Road Initiative seeks to link, and ultimately bind, countries to it through massive infrastructure projects, in an all-roads lead to China strategy, in the most literal sense.
China is also attempting to implement its own version of the Monroe Doctrine to expel Western powers from Asia and firmly establish itself as unrivaled hegemon, just as America once did in its own hemisphere.
Finally, China is eyeing a hostile takeover of Taiwan.
If successful, this would return what it views as a rogue province to the motherland, while also giving China control over Taiwan’s world leading semiconductor industry.
China is of course not the only great power endeavoring to expand its borders, with Russia forcibly annexing resource rich Ukrainian territory as well, which China, no doubt expecting the Russians to return the favor, is actively aiding and abetting.
Russia is not Ukraine’s only suitor either, as the European Union (EU) is also eyeing expansion by adding the country to its membership.
This trend of expansion for purposes of securing land and resources is only poised to accelerate, and to ensure future U.S. power and security, America must again embrace its expansionary history — a fact President Donald Trump clearly understands.
To that end, if America acquires Greenland, returns the Panama Canal, and merges with Canada, as Trump advocates, not only will it counter adversaries like China, but U.S. power, prosperity, and national security will be secured for decades, if not centuries, to come — as previous Americans once did.
Greenland, for instance, is strategically located and possesses massive deposits of minerals and resources, which China is already attempting to secure for itself.
While the Panama Canal, which America built at tremendous expense and owned for decades, before foolishly giving it up, is a key passageway for trade, and one again that China also wants to control.
Finally, a merger between America and Canada, presently the first and ninth biggest countries by G.D.P. in the world respectively, would produce an economy larger than that of China, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea combined.
And would create a country, as Canadian author Diane Francis notes in her 2014 book "Merger of The Century," which advocates for the combination, "that would control more oil, water, arable land and resources than any jurisdiction on Earth, all protected by the world’s most powerful military."
Admittedly, this may all still seem like fantasy or dangerous musing to some, but soon enough it could come to be viewed as not just desirable, but even necessary.
For in the jungle, the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.
A fact America’s pioneering forebearers who tamed the wilderness understood all too well.
Lee Steinhauer is a strategic policy and political consultant known for his book "The Art of The New Cold War: America vs. China. What America Must Do to Win." Lee is a frequent guest on Fox, Fox Business, Newsmax, and a published policy and opinion writer for numerous media publications. Read Lee Steinhauer's Reports — More Here.
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