Farewell to soft power

US rhetoric shifts from persuasion to deterrence, unsettling allies and heightening tensions.

The Caribbean and the Arctic seem to have little in common. The same cannot be said of Venezuela and Greenland, which, with the turn of the new year, have found themselves on the same geopolitical menu—based on a contemporary version of the Monroe Doctrine , the declaration by President James Monroe warning European powers against further colonisation or interference in the Western Hemisphere. It declared the Americas closed to future colonisation, asserted the US sphere of influence, and pledged non-interference in European affairs.