Expansionism

Global Expansionism

Recent remarks from President elect Donald Trump has sparked controversy regarding expansionist policies across the globe. In President Trump’s pre-inauguration press conference he made remarks regarding interference with Panama, annexing Greenland, and turning Canada into the 51st state. Additionally, Russia has attempted to conquer Ukraine referencing NATO’s recent expansion as the cause of this recent attack. Additionally, China has recently sparked controversy regarding a treaty with Great Britain regarding Hong Kong and continues to claim sovereignty over Taiwan. These controversial adjustments in borders have created vast controversy and need to be fully analyzed.

President Donald Trump mentioned in his pre-inauguration press conference that he is looking into annexing Greenland for national security purposes. This is due to the US apparently already being responsible for defense of the land and currently having troops stationed in the region. Additionally, Trump believes Panama is not fulfilling its end of the agreement they made with the United States when the US gave the Panama Canal to Panama. There are concerns regarding Chinese involvement in the canal especially in light of China's Belt and Road initiative.

Additionally, there has been some mention of Canada becoming the 51st state. However, when asked to comment on that statement Trump indicated that he is only proposing trade sanctions and no instances of military force. Additionally, the current forerunner in the prime minister elections Pierre Poilievre agrees that serious work must be put in to ensure both countries are making the best use of their trade relations.

Chinese Expansionism

Recently China has gotten into hot water regarding its actions regarding Hong Kong. Before the British government returned Hong Kong to China in 1997, China agreed to allow Hong Kong political autonomy for 50 years. However, in February 2019 a bill was proposed to allow people of Hong Kong to be extradited to mainland China to stand trial for crimes. This resulted in numerous protests until the bill was eventually removed from voting. Numerous other records of mainland China's interference in Hong Kong's affairs have also been reported including initially disqualifying a pro-democracy activist from the district council elections in 2019 named Joshua Wong.

Additionally, China is thought to pose a threat to Taiwan, which it has long considered under its jurisdiction despite the country being operated under its own control. Minor other territorial disputes with India and across the South China Sea are also under consideration.

NATO Expansionism

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was originally a political and military alliance formed in the wake of World War II. This alliance initially consisted of 12 countries near the Atlantic Ocean when it was formed in 1949. An opposing alliance called the Warsaw Pact was created in 1955, but has since disbanded in 1991. Before the disbanding of the Warsaw pack 3 additional countries were added to the alliance. However, since the first Warsaw pact members were allowed to join the alliance in 1999 NATO has grown from 15 countries to an alliance of 31 countries.

Russian Expansionism

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Russian president Vladimir Putin claims this is in response to NATO's expansion up to its border. When the attack initially commenced there were only 2 countries bordering Russia that were a part of NATO (Latvia and Estonia). Both countries had a relatively small border with Russia. However, recent developments regarding Ukraine's attempts to join NATO in 2021 led to an amassing of Russian troops at their border with Ukraine beginning that spring according to Reuters.

The Ethics of Expansionism

There are various kinds of expansionism that have taken place over the generations. 2 time periods are used to demonstrate these differences: European Imperialism during the Industrial Revolution and warring kingdoms during the Middle Ages. This brief reaction discusses when expansion is warranted and when it is not.

The first example of expansionism is European Imperialism in the wake of the Industrial Revolution. This Imperialism had 3 purposes: gaining cheap resources to refine on the mainland, gaining military footholds and locations for proxy wars, and spreading European culture throughout the world. In regards to obtaining resources, land should not be taken through military force to obtain something the free market can just as easily provide even if it might cost a slightly higher price due to competition. In regards to the second, proxy wars are not beneficial and should be avoided at all cost. However, if a location proves to be a key military location in order to protect a nation's citizens in a time of war, it is hard to argue that the nation should just ignore the region and accept defeat. Thirdly, spreading culture through conquering regions, although it has led to various countries being better off economically than they were previously, is not ethical. A country may maintain their own culture and should not be forced to give it up through military force. Whenever conquering new realms special care ought to be given to their culture especially as that region may experience different difficulties that shaped their actions. Additionally, it should go without saying that care for a nations customs includes not committing genocide as the Germans did in WWII or as numerous other nations have done as well.

The second example of expansionism is the traditional expansionism that occurred throughout all of history. The primary example of this was during the Middle Ages. In this era there was no clear distinctions in land and borders changed as various kings rose to power and later fell. It was a kings ability to bring peace to a region that determined how large the region he might control would be. In the modern era, it is commonly democratic systems of government, not merely a powerful ruler that determine the welfare of a country. Additionally, as people have transferred from subjects to citizens over the years and now have control over their government just as their government has control over them, it seems even less toxic to add people into the fold. When regions can vote to enter or leave locations and back up their decisions through proving their own sovereignty through negotiating treaties with other powers, it seems as if this is the appropriate way of changing countries borders.

It is not unethical for a country's borders to change, but these borders should not just be regularly changed on a whim. This is where wars come in to decide territorial disputes. If a nation can protect its own borders, it is a country. However, if a region proves to need to rely on its previous government's protection, it perhaps should consent to taxes and regulations in exchange for such services.

Just a short note: This topic is not fully researched and flushed out. I hope to have full length articles regarding each of these expanding collectives and perhaps one for each direction of potential expansion. However, it will take quite some time to fully research each topic and so I hope you enjoy the information currently available and allow me the opportunity to make this post to further split the topic into more researchable lengths.