Category: News
Asking Eric: I can’t keep avoiding them
Dear Eric: My mother is in her last months of life. She has been cared for in her home for the last three years by increasingly expensive home health care workers. I and other siblings have suggested over and over that she be put in a care home for round-the-clock care, but our oldest sibling (we’ll call them Jimmy) has steadfastly refused, saying nursing homes let people die and neglect patients and cause massive bedsores and all sorts of terrible over-the-top excuses.
Well, now that Jimmy’s own mother-in-law is going into a nursing home Jimmy has decided it’s time for our mother to go as well.
We have had family meetings where we decide as a sibling group how to care for our mother and then Jimmy goes against the group decision. Prior to the conflict over our mother’s care, I had a good, albeit not close, relationship with this sibling, but now I’m so frustrated by the selfish choices made regarding our mother’s care that I’m ready to say goodbye forever once mom is buried.
Should I let years of bullying in regard to caring for our mother be the cause to cut off contact with Jimmy?
– Frustrated Little Sister
Dear Sister: It’s really unfortunate that Jimmy is dealing with the stress, confusion, and grief of this phase of life by refusing to collaborate and resorting to, as you write, bullying behavior. Perhaps in his mind, he’s the one keeping the ship right. Perhaps he’s grasping after a version of life that’s no longer possible. I have empathy for him and for you, but the fact is that no matter his intentions, he’s caused harm in your relationship and that needs repair.
Don’t cut him off but do have a conversation with him about the way you’ve interacted in the past. There’s no need to rehash old conflicts, but it’s fine to say something like “I didn’t like being in conflict about mom’s care. I want us to have a different relationship going forward. How can we do that?”
Dear Eric: My husband and I moved to a new city last year and were eager to make friends. We became close to another couple, “Susan and Mike,” rather quickly and saw them often. I realized after several months however that, while I enjoyed Susan’s company, Mike is not someone I am comfortable with.
He is a heavy drinker and makes sexist and racist comments that leave me cringing. I’ve reached out to Susan several times to suggest the two of us do things solo, but unfortunately, they are quite joined at the hip.
She’s reached out a number of times over the past couple of months to ask about our next get together, and each time I pretended we had conflicts but didn’t suggest alternative dates. She reached out again today and I feel bad.
I can’t keep avoiding them, but I am not sure how to best put some distance between us without creating ill will. I feel that honestly isn’t the best policy here, but maybe I am just trying to avoid the inevitable.
– Uncoupling the Couple
Dear Couple: On Monday, I published a letter with a slightly similar issue and replied that, alas, you can’t divorce someone else’s husband. The same is true in your case. Moreover, I think it would be wise to accept what Susan is communicating to you. If she and Mike are a package deal, warts and all, it will probably help you to think of them that way.
I know that Susan’s presence is more tolerable to you than Mike’s – and, from what you’ve written, for good reason. But it doesn’t do you much good to think about how ideal your friendship would be if you could just get Susan away from him. Not going to happen. Indeed, if he’s saying racist and sexist things and you’re cringing, but she isn’t, Mike might not be the only one to hold those opinions.
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I don’t mean to malign Susan’s character. And it’s not right to hold anyone responsible for their spouse’s actions, but it sounds like she’s thinking of this as a couple friendship. And so, the truth, for you, is that it doesn’t work. I find directness to be the best course when one friend keeps reaching out, difficult though it may sometimes be. The alternative – slowly drifting apart or escalating instances of ignoring – stands to create just as much ill will. Instead, consider telling the truth. “We like you and we’ve appreciated being friends with you, but it’s hard to take some of Mike’s comments, such as [X] and [Y].”
(Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at eric@askingeric.com or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram and sign up for his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com.)
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/06/asking-eric-i-cant-keep-avoiding-them/
Austin Reaves anota 35 puntos y Lakers se sobreponen a lesión de Doncic para vencer 119-115 a Sixers
LOS ÁNGELES (AP) — Austin Reaves anotó 35 puntos en apenas 25 minutos, y los Lakers de Los Ángeles se sobrepusieron a la salida de Luka Doncic por una lesión en la pierna izquierda para imponerse el jueves 119-115 a los 76ers de Filadelfia.
LeBron James sumó 17 puntos y diez asistencias a la cuenta de los Lakers, quienes rompieron la racha de cinco victorias consecutivas de Filadelfia con una gran remontada en la segunda mitad. El partido marcó el regreso de los Lakers a casa tras una gira agotadora de ocho visitas.
Joel Embiid anotó 35 puntos y Tyrese Maxey añadió 26, además de prodigar 13 asistencias por los 76ers, quienes desperdiciaron una ventaja de 14 puntos y estuvieron cerca de remontar un déficit de 16 unidades en la segunda mitad pero sufrieron su primera derrota desde el 26 de enero.
Los Lakers ganaban 110-94 con cuatro minutos por jugar, pero Filadelfia redujo la diferencia a 116-113 cuando el novato VJ Edgecombe robó un pase de James y encestó un triple con 36 segundos faltantes. James cometió ocho pérdidas de balón.
Pero Maxi Kleber asistió a Rui Hachimura para una clavada con 12 segundos restantes, y los Lakers se mantuvieron firmes.
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Deportes AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
Bus con invitados a una boda se sale de una carretera en Nepal y deja 13 muertos y 34 heridos
Associated Press
KATMANDÚ, Nepal (AP) — Un autobús que llevaba a los invitados a una boda se salió de una carretera de montaña en el oeste de Nepal y cayó por una pendiente en un accidente que mató al menos a 13 personas y dejó a otras 34 heridas, dijo la policía el viernes.
El bus realizaba el viaje de regreso cuando cayó unos 200 metros (yardas) y aterrizó en un terreno llano cerca de la localidad de Budgaun, a unos 500 kilómetros (310 millas) al oeste de la capital, Katmandú.
Poco después del siniestro del jueves por la noche, los heridos fueron trasladados a hospitales y se sacó a los cadáveres de entre los restos del vehículo, explicó la oficina de policía del distrito de Baitadi.
El autobús se dirigía al pueblo del novio después de la ceremonia nupcial, pero tanto el novio como la novia viajan en otro vehículo y sobrevivieron.
La causa del accidente no estaba clara, pero la policía estaba investigando lo ocurrido.
Los accidentes de autobús en Nepal se deben principalmente al mal estado de las carreteras y los autos, y gran parte del país del Himalaya está lleno de montañas con carreteras estrechas.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
Wembanyama anota 29 puntos y Spurs vencen a Mavs pese a otra noche estupenda de Flagg
DALLAS (AP) — Victor Wembanyama anotó 29 puntos y capturó 11 rebotes por los Spurs de San Antonio, quienes se sobrepusieron al cuarto duelo consecutivo del novato Cooper Flagg con 30 puntos y derrotaron el jueves 135-123 a los Mavericks de Dallas.
Flagg anotó 32 puntos para extender su récord de la NBA, de más encuentros consecutivos con al menos 30 puntos por un adolescente. El joven de 19 años se unió a Michael Jordan, Bernard King, Allen Iverson y Jalen Green como los únicos novatos en anotar al menos 30 unidades en cuatro coompromisos consecutivos desde la fusión NBA-ABA en 1976-77.
Dallas perdió los cuatro encuentros y está en una racha de seis derrotas consecutivas, su más larga de la temporada.
Harrison Barnes fue otro de los siete jugadores de San Antonio en cifras de dos dígitos, al conseguir 19 puntos, y De’Aaron Fox anotó 17 mientras superaba una noche de mala puntería con dos triples decisivos en el último cuarto. El segundo llegó en la sexta asistencia de Wembanyama y les dio a los Spurs una ventaja de 131-123 con 1:24 minutos por jugar.
Stephon Castle acumuló 18 puntos y siete rebotes, el último de ellos en su enfática volcada de seguimiento para los puntos finales.
Naji Marshall igualó a Flagg con 32 puntos por Dallas, y Daniel Gafford añadió 16 puntos y diez rebotes unas pocas horas después de que pasó la fecha límite de canjes sin que el pívot fuera traspasado, a pesar de ser objeto de especulaciones en ese sentido.
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Deportes AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
Hornets amplían racha ganadora a 8 partidos con triunfo de 109-99 sobre Rockets
HOUSTON (AP) — El novato Kon Knueppel anotó 24 puntos y LaMelo Ball agregó 20 para ayudar a que los Hornets de Charlotte doblegaran el jueves 109-99 a los Rockets de Houston, con lo cual extendieron a ocho su número de triunfos en fila.
La racha de Charlotte es la más larga de la franquicia desde que ganó nueve seguidos en la temporada 1998-99.
Los Hornets ganaban por 16 tantos después de tres cuartos y Brandon Miller anotó los primeros cinco puntos del último periodo para extender la ventaja a 96-75 con unos 11 minutos por jugar. Una racha de 5-0 de Charlotte, con un triple de Sion James, puso el marcador en 103-81 con unos ocho minutos restantes y el entrenador de Houston, Ime Udoka, retiró a sus titulares.
Es la segunda paliza consecutiva que sufren los Rockets. Perdieron 114-93 el miércoles por la noche ante un equipo de Boston que jugaba sin la estrella Jaylen Brown.
Kevin Durant lideró a Houston, que llegó al jueves en el cuarto lugar de la Conferencia Oeste, con 31 puntos, en tanto que Jabari Smith Jr. agregó 17. Fue una noche difícil para Alperen Sengun, quien promediaba 21,2 tantos, y anotó solo siete al irse de tres de 11 en tiros.
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Deportes AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
Max Mandac, who had losing record last season, earns No. 1 ranking to lead Providence to state. ‘Get better.’
Max Mandac took some lumps last season as a freshman in the varsity lineup for Providence.
But Mandac used those setbacks as motivation, taking some new knowledge away from each defeat.
“You have take the losses as lessons,” Mandac said. “You have to get better from them. You can’t take them too much to the head and get down on yourself or think you’re going to lose the next one.
“You have to say, ‘I need to get better at this position or get better at doing that.’ That’s what I did.”
That mentality has certainly paid off for Mandac. After finishing just 16-22 last season, the sophomore has ascended to No. 1 in the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association’s state rankings for Class 2A at 126 pounds.
Mandac is helping the Celtics soar to state as a team, too. His pin Thursday night was part of a dominant performance for Providence, which rolled to a 63-14 win over the host Mustangs at the Class 2A Evergreen Park Dual Team Sectional.
Providence’s Max Mandac, left, looks for a move against Evergreen Park’s Jayden Cervantes in the 126-pound bout of the Class 2A Evergreen Park Dual Team Sectional on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (Vincent D. Johnson / Daily Southtown)
The second-ranked Celtics (11-7), headed to team state for the first time since 2017-18, will take on No. 18 Marian Central Catholic (9-7) in a 5 p.m. quarterfinal on Feb. 27 at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington. Marian Central upset No. 4 downstate Washington 37-33.
“It feels great to be going to state as a team,” Mandac said. “I’m part of this great dynasty of Providence wrestling, and I want to build it back up and start off a new one and win more state titles as a team.”
Cole Lemberg (106), Christian Corcoran (113), Luke Banas (144), Justus Heeg (157), Jasper Harper (165), Ameer Khalil (175) and Brayden McKay (190) led Providence with wins by pin.
Damian Perez (120), Landon Robinson-Gwin (215) and Willie Johnson (285) posted wins for Evergreen Park (10-10).
Providence’s Max Mandac, left, tries to take down Evergreen Park’s Jayden Cervantes in the 126-pound bout of the Class 2A Evergreen Park Dual Team Sectional on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (Vincent D. Johnson / Daily Southtown)
Mandac (32-14), meanwhile, made some noise by coming through with a third-period pin against Jayden Cervantes (35-9) in a battle of regional champions.
“My pace and my top game have gotten so much better,” Mandac said. “I just feel so dominant when I’m in that position now. I know I can finish off those pins.”
Providence coach Donny Reynolds has seen Mandac knocking on the door since his high school career began. Now, he’s breaking through.
“He’s been so close for so long and he just hadn’t gotten that statement win to get him over the hump,” Reynolds said. “He’s finally started to get some wins against all-state type guys and it kind of opened the door and showed him, ‘I belong with these guys.’
Providence’s Max Mandac, right, wraps up Evergreen Park’s Jayden Cervantes in the 126-pound bout of the Class 2A Evergreen Park Dual Team Sectional on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (Vincent D. Johnson / Daily Southtown)
“He’s competing at a high level right now. He’s confident and he’s ready to go.”
Mandac’s recent success includes wins over the wrestlers ranked Nos. 2 and 3 at 126 in IC Catholic’s Sam Murante and Lemont’s Cory Zator.
He beat Zator 6-1 in the championship match at the Ag Science Regional.
Corcoran also sees Mandac’s confidence growing.
“Max has definitely improved a lot,” Corcoran said. “He had a losing record last year and now he’s looking like a high favorite at state. It’s all the work he put in over the offseason and preseason.
“It’s really showing out on the mat.”
Providence’s Max Mandac completes a pin of Evergreen Park’s Jayden Cervantes in the 126-pound bout of the Class 2A Evergreen Park Dual Team Sectional on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (Vincent D. Johnson / Daily Southtown)
Corcoran, Mandac and Heeg are all sophomores who are ranked No. 1. They and junior Tommy Banas — ranked No. 1 at 138 — have led a resurgence for a program that has won eight state titles but faced some lean years in the last decade.
And Mandac is thrilled to be a part of two turnarounds — the team’s and his own.
“I put the time and effort in at practice every single day throughout the summer and the fall,” he said. “My teammates and coaches were there pushing me to go my hardest.
“Now, I’m No. 1 in the state and it feels great.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/05/max-mandac-providence-evergreen-park-wrestling/
Alexander-Walker encesta con 1,3 segundos restantes y Hawks superan a Jazz, 121-119
ATLANTA (AP) — Nickeil Alexander-Walker rompió el empate con un tiro corto a 1,3 segundos del final y totalizó 23 puntos para que los Hawks de Atlanta superaran el jueves 121-119 al Jazz de Utah.
Jock Landale, recién adquirido, logró su mayor cifra de la campaña con 29 puntos y encestó un triple decisivo con 45 segundos restantes. Logró un récord personal de cinco triples y estableció sus máximas cifras de la temporada en tapas con cuatro y asistencias con cinco.
Jalen Johnson consiguió su tercer triple-doble consecutivo, para sumar diez en la temporada. Terminó con 22 puntos, 16 rebotes y 15 asistencias.
Sus diez triples-dobles son superados solo por Nikola Jokic en toda la liga.
Los Hawks canjearon a Landale el miércoles poco después de que formó parte de un acuerdo de ocho jugadores que lo envió a Utah desde Memphis. El Jazz envió al veterano pívot a Atlanta a cambio de consideraciones económicas.
Comenzó en lugar del lesionado Onyeka Okongwu, quien se perdió su cuarto encuentro debido a una fractura dental.
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Deportes AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
EEUU ataca otra presunta embarcación de narcotráfico en el Pacífico oriental
WASHINGTON (AP) — Las fuerzas armadas de Estados Unidos informaron el jueves que llevaron a cabo otro ataque mortal contra una embarcación acusada de traficar drogas en el océano Pacífico oriental.
El Comando Sur estadounidense indicó en redes sociales que el bote “transitaba por rutas conocidas de narcotráfico en el Pacífico oriental y estaba involucrado en operaciones de narcotráfico”. Señaló que en el ataque murieron dos personas. Un video vinculado a la publicación muestra una embarcación desplazándose sobre el agua antes de explotar en llamas.
El ataque fue anunciado tan sólo unas horas después de que el secretario de Defensa de Estados Unidos, Pete Hegseth, declarara que “algunos de los principales narcotraficantes de cárteles” en la región “han decidido cesar todas las operaciones de narcóticos indefinidamente debido a las recientes (y altamente efectivas) acciones cinéticas en el Caribe”. Sin embargo, Hegseth no proporcionó detalles ni datos que respaldaran esta afirmación, hecha en una publicación en su cuenta personal en redes sociales.
Ni el Comando Sur de Estados Unidos ni el Pentágono respondieron a preguntas de seguimiento sobre la afirmación de Hegseth.
Los ataques a embarcaciones, que comenzaron en septiembre de 2025, han disminuido en frecuencia desde enero, un mes en el que sólo hubo uno después de la redada en la que fue capturado el entonces presidente venezolano Nicolás Maduro. En contraste, el Pentágono atacó más de una docena de embarcaciones en diciembre de ese año.
La acometida del jueves eleva a 128 el número de muertos por los ataques del gobierno de Trump a presuntas embarcaciones de drogas. La semana pasada, las fuerzas armadas indicaron que esa cifra era de hasta 126 personas, con la inclusión de los que se presume muertos tras perderse en el mar. Esa cifra incluía a 116 individuos que murieron inmediatamente en al menos 36 ataques llevados a cabo desde principios de septiembre en el mar Caribe y el océano Pacífico oriental, según el Comando Sur estadounidense. Se cree que otras diez personas están muertas porque los equipos de rescate no las localizaron después de un ataque.
Mientras tanto, las familias de dos ciudadanos de Trinidad y Tobago muertos en octubre en un ataque a una embarcación por parte del gobierno de Trump demandaron al gobierno de Estados Unidos la semana pasada, calificando el ataque como un crimen de guerra y parte de una “campaña militar estadounidense sin precedentes y manifiestamente ilegal”. Se cree que la demanda es el primer caso de homicidio involuntario derivado de la campaña y pondrá a prueba la justificación jurídica de los ataques, que muchos expertos dicen son una violación flagrante de las leyes de conflicto armado.
El presidente Donald Trump ha dicho que Estados Unidos está en “conflicto armado” con los cárteles en América Latina y ha justificado los ataques, diciendo que son una intensificación necesaria para frenar el flujo de drogas. Pero su gobierno ha ofrecido pocas pruebas para respaldar sus afirmaciones de haber matado a “narcoterroristas”.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
Primer triple-doble en la carrera de Jalen Suggs da triunfo a Magic, 118-98 sobre Nets
ORLANDO, Florida, EE.UU. (AP) — Jalen Suggs totalizó 15 puntos, 11 rebotes y 11 asistencias para lograr el primer triple-doble de su carrera, Desmond Bane anotó 23 unidades y Paolo Banchero agregó 22 para que el Magic de Orlando vapuleara el jueves 118-98 a los Nets de Brooklyn.
Jugando 29 minutos en su séptimo partido después de perderse ocho por una lesión en la rodilla derecha, Suggs también bloqueó cuatro tiros y consiguió tres robos.
Egor Demin lideró a los Nets con un récord personal de 26 puntos, al atinar seis de diez desde la línea de triples. Su compañero novato Nolan Traore igualó su récord personal con 21 puntos y agregó siete asistencias.
Michael Porter Jr., el máximo anotador de Brooklyn, embocó dos de 13 y anotó nueve puntos.
Anthony Black sumó 18 puntos y cinco asistencias para Orlando y Mo Wagner salió del banco para contribuir con 14 unidades y cinco rebotes en 12 minutos.
La derrota fue la 15ª en 17 compromisos para los Nets, que llegaron como el equipo con menos puntos anotados (107,1) y el peor porcentaje de tiros de campo (44,3%) en la NBA. Atinaron un 41,5% y sufrieron 19 pérdidas de balón.
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Deportes AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
Why Greenland Is At The Center Of A Shifting Global Order
Why Greenland Is At The Center Of A Shifting Global Order
Authored by Terri Wu via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
U.S. President Donald Trump’s pursuit of Greenland for national security purposes rankled allies ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January.
A drone view shows a general view of Nuuk, Greenland, on Jan. 15, 2026. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
Trump’s threat of tariffs, coupled with his talk of possible military intervention to acquire the island, prompted sharp pushback from European countries. These tensions triggered talk of a “new world order” at Davos, with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney stating that the post-World War II world order is “in the midst of a rupture.”
But tensions eased soon after when the United States and NATO reached a framework deal on Greenland and Trump withdrew planned tariffs and ruled out the use of military action. High-level negotiations have continued between Washington and NATO and have begun between the United States, Denmark, and the semi-autonomous island.
Still, the Trump administration’s actions on Greenland represent a milestone event in a shifting world order, experts told The Epoch Times. As China and Russia look to deepen their strategic foothold in the Arctic and beyond, the United States is reasserting itself in the region.
Experts said they expect several years of turbulence before a new equilibrium emerges. When the dust settles in three to five years, they said, the United States is likely to retain its status as the dominant power, with China unlikely to secure material gains.
Despite China’s continued attempts to gain influence in Greenland and to deepen its operations with Russia in the Arctic Circle, experts said they suspect that reputational constraints and internal challenges will ultimately hamper the regime’s ability to achieve global primacy. At the same time, the United States will continue its world leadership role in a realigned position, they said.
A rare convergence of geopolitical factors has elevated Greenland’s strategic importance. Located in a region critical to U.S. homeland defense, the island is also situated between two emerging Arctic shipping routes that could significantly shorten global transit times. In addition, the territory is rich with natural resources, including rare earths.
Heightened Importance
Situated at the gateway to the Atlantic and Arctic oceans, Greenland has become central to U.S. homeland defense. That assessment is reflected in the new U.S. National Defense Strategy. Released on Jan. 23, it identifies Greenland as a “key terrain,” along with the Panama Canal and Gulf of America.
When Trump first mentioned purchasing Greenland in 2019, Alexander Gray was serving as a senior national security official at the White House. He said the president was “absolutely serious” then and is even more so now, given how he has prioritized the defense of the Western Hemisphere.
Geographically, Greenland is part of North America. Today, the United States has one military base—Pituffik Space Base, formerly known as Thule Air Base—in northwestern Greenland. That is down from 17 bases at the end of World War II.
During the Cold War, it played a critical role in the early detection of ballistic missiles to the continental United States. Military technology development makes that early-detection role even more critical, said Troy Bouffard, director of the Center for Arctic Security and Resilience at the University of Alaska–Fairbanks.
Conventional ballistic missiles first enter outer space and reenter the atmosphere, providing a predictable trajectory for tracking and ground interception. However, hypersonic cruise missiles are both maneuverable and can travel at altitudes below radar detection, making them much harder to track.
Russia and China likely have operational hypersonic cruise missiles, while those of the United States are still in development, according to a 2025 congressional research report.
“Pituffik would have an advantage of detecting anything first before anyone in quite a lot of the Arctic space,” Bouffard told The Epoch Times. “That’s critical to the entire missile defense enterprise of what will be North America’s Golden Dome.”
He noted that when the Soviet Union fell, it significantly reduced its army but retained its strategic submarine forces.
“They kept that one up because it is still the most lethal weapon on the planet,” Bouffard said.
“They’re still going toe to toe with us. They may not be up in terms of sophistication, yet in terms of fifth- and sixth-gen technologies … they’re never that far behind.”
According to the Danish Institute for International Studies, radar coverage over Greenland is insufficient to detect Russian aircraft, and NATO currently lacks the capacity to hunt submarines in the GIUK Gap—waters separating Greenland, Iceland, and the UK.
Arena of Competing Powers
The Arctic is perhaps one of the last few areas where China sees a relatively open field for amassing power, according to China expert Alexander Liao. And China has been active in the region for a decade.
Although it has no territory in the Arctic, China declared itself a “near-Arctic state” in its first-ever Arctic policy, released in 2018. Later in the same year, Beijing launched a Polar Silk Road program and linked it to the Belt and Road Initiative, a $1 trillion foreign policy platform that expands Beijing’s global economic and military footprint.
Since the end of the Cold War, the Arctic region has been characterized by the principle of “Arctic exceptionalism.” The political narrative proposed by the final leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, aims to leave the region to scientific cooperation and to insulate it from broader geopolitical rivalry.
A fishing village near Nuuk, Greenland, on May 4, 2025. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times
That was largely how things went until Russia’s invasion of Ukraine broke the equilibrium in February 2022, Bouffard said. The war in Ukraine led to the first-ever whole-of-government Arctic strategy, issued by the White House eight months later.
In Gray’s view, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was “an inflection point, in that the world order [was] basically reverting back to what it was prior to 1991.”
“The world has shifted back to great power competition because of [Russian President] Vladimir Putin and [Chinese leader] Xi Jinping,” he told The Epoch Times.
Short of launching a kinetic war, Xi has leveraged the global trade system through his industrial policy and military-civil fusion strategy.
Over the past decades, Beijing has monopolized the processing of rare earths, critical minerals essential for modern manufacturing and advanced weapon systems. The regime showed last year that it was not afraid to use its stranglehold over rare earths to retaliate against U.S. tariffs.
And the Arctic’s rich natural resources were an attraction. The 2022 U.S. National Strategy for the Arctic Region states that China doubled its investments in the region over the previous decade, with a focus on extracting critical minerals and its “dual-use research with intelligence or military applications.”
Specifically in Greenland, the Danish government blocked such projects by Chinese state-owned companies.
The year 2018 marked a shift in Nordic countries’ sentiment toward China, according to Andreas Forsby, senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies.
Thanks to U.S. pressure and Nordic countries’ “second thoughts about inviting the Chinese into the Arctic region,“ he said, the Chinese were told “step by step” that they “were no longer welcome.”
Although China has taken what Forsby called a “tactical retreat” in Greenland, Gray said the Chinese regime will again see an opening if the island achieves its long-term goal of independence from Denmark.
When addressing the European Union Parliament on Jan. 26, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte also stressed the importance of allied efforts to curb Russian and Chinese military and economic influence in the Arctic.
According to Risk Intelligence, a Denmark-based consultancy, after the war in Ukraine began, China started constructing its own docks in the five most significant ports along Russia’s Arctic coastline—Murmansk, Sabetta, Arkhangelsk, Tiksi, and Uzden—while building Chinese railway lines in the area.
A Shifting World Order
For now, it seems that the United States will have direct control over the land under its military bases in Greenland, according to a New York Post interview with Trump.
Rutte also said on Jan. 26 that negotiations will be carried out in two “workstreams”: one between the United States and NATO and one among the United States, Denmark, and Greenland. The second stream has begun, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Jan. 28.
Trump has said that more details will be negotiated in the coming weeks, after announcing on Jan. 21 that a framework had been discussed in Davos.
The Europeans got a “reality check” at the World Economic Forum, where the Greenland issue and surrounding tensions took center stage, said James Lewis, a former diplomat and a distinguished fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis.
The old order was already breaking down, he said, and Trump accelerated the process.
“The rules-based international order never really worked; it worked as long as there weren’t any challenges to it,“ he told The Epoch Times. ”I think that’s what the Europeans have woken up to.
“They had this dream of a rules-based international order where lawyers were more important than guns, and that dream has gone.”
Similarly, Rutte said on Jan. 26 that it is time for Europe and Canada to shoulder more of their own defense.
Greenland was a “milestone” for the Europeans, Lewis said, noting that the transatlantic alliance has suffered a setback in trust that will linger after Trump’s term. However, he said, this was not a big win for China.
“China’s reputation makes it hard for it to take advantage of these changes,” he said.
Eventually, the Europeans will “let the Americans back in,” Lewis said, because defense is very expensive.
“They’d rather share the burden of the cost with the United States than go on their own,” he told The Epoch Times.
Although China aspires to “script the Sino-American relations and the world order,” he said, it is left in an odd place in terms of allegiances.
Liao said other countries use China as a card to negotiate with the United States. They knew that there was no long-term partnership potential with Beijing, he said, but they used engagement with Beijing as “strategic anesthesia” to alleviate the pain caused by Trump’s unpredictable approach.
According to Gray, the “brittle, paranoid political system” mired with internal turmoil—including the sacking of Zhang Youxia, Xi’s second-in-command in the military and a longtime family friend of Xi—makes it difficult for the regime to function in the long term.
Both Lewis and Liao said they think that the next three years of Trump’s presidency will be full of changes. Liao and Gray said they think that the new world order will take an initial form in roughly half a decade.
Liao said he sees Greenland as a milestone event in a broader reordering of power. The United States will lead, but in a new way, according to him.
Gray agrees. In his view, an emerging international order is coming into view.
“We’re beginning to see that it is a world in which the United States is the predominant power, but it is not the hyperpower,” he said.
“And there are multiple levels of polarity, and there are multiple groupings of powers.”
Daniel Holl contributed to this report.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 02/05/2026 – 23:25
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/why-greenland-center-shifting-global-order
