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In this exclusive interview, UnHerd’s Freddie Sayers speaks with Professor John Bew – leading historian and chief foreign policy advisor to the last four UK Prime Ministers – about the friction caused by the Trump administration’s push to acquire Greenland and the resulting panic within the Western alliance. Set against the backdrop of the 2026 Davos summit, the conversation confronts the ‘break glass’ moment facing Western leaders and explores the uncomfortable reality of our current era: Will the UK shift from economic dependency toward restoring its own national power to navigate a scary new era of ‘bully powers’? Is the Western alliance truly over, or can a nuanced and multi-layered approach preserve the core security frameworks that have defined the last 80 years? How should middle powers respond when the United States – the traditional guarantor of global norms – begins to operate under a pre-1945 logic of annexation and unilateral tariffs? And could a new Northern European alliance provide the necessary leverage to protect sovereign interests in an increasingly bipolar world?
It amazes me that otherwise sensible people cannot understand Trump. There was clearly never any way in which Trump was really going to invade Greenland. It was always just an opening bid. I think because they find him so vulgar, they struggle to decipher his thinking in a way that seems easy to me.
Though to be fair, I don’t like Starmer and I can’t understand what he is thinking.
It’s because he’s an outlier, he doesn’t fit neatly into any of the conventional narratives the elites have constructed to control the world they think they rule over. He shatters all their comfortable norms and they can’t get their heads around what appears obvious to you and me.
This sums up perfectly the Trump modus operandi. They just don’t get it.
https://x.com/TVNewsNow/status/2014130221838971333
Great video! Yes, Byron York is right, it was a classic Trump manoeuvre – the Art of the Deal! He just does it over and over and every time the commentariat lose their minds.
Exactly. How many times does Trump have to tell the world that he opens negotiations for anything by making his first request completely outlandish. He even wrote a book about it (the Art of the Deal). And yet people freak out again and again. And while he is regularly denoted as a mad man, his thoughts to me seem completely strategic and based on what has transpired around the Russian/Chinese/Iranian axis.
Problem: The Iran negotiation resulted in something like 15-20 thousand dead.
I think they know.
They are simply ideologically opposed to what Trump represents and so make a big fuss when they think they have him on the ropes.
Try and discredit him publicly by making a song & dance about Greenland, Venezuela, ICE – whatever they can weaponise.
They may indeed know, but the song and dance is counterproductive. It just just hightlights their weakness and emphasises their stupidity.
A sensible reaction would be to say we understand this is just the opening gambit in a negotiation and we are prepared to talk to President Trump to reach a mutually agreeable solution. That’s all he’s after, he’s making them rethink their rigid,commitment to basically untenable positions.
Doubtless this is true for many commentators but Freddie Sayers is a reasonable and open-minded man and even he thought that there was some possibility of Trump invading Greenland.
I am not sure that Starmer does actually think – he just reacts!
It is called the rumble. Your strategy is clear, but tbe tactic is to create chaos amongst opponents by throwing a handgranade into the room. Then fish your deal out of the embers.
He does it everytime and we do not learn.
Now we read in the legacy press that Trump has backed down. No he hasn’t: two weeks ago Europeans were not entertaining any negotiations on Greenland. Now they are.
I totally agree with you. We should know by now that Trump operates politically as he did in business. He demands the impossible but is actually prepared to settle for less and make the other party feel relived it wasn’t as bad as they first thought it might be.
In this case he threatened invasion but it was pretty clear that he wanted access to Greenland for security and also to exploit mineral resources. He’s got what he wanted; so have the rest of us.
Agreed on both points.
Trump’s schtick is pure New York, where I’ve lived since I was a boy; where my parents were born and raised. He talks like my mother did. Hyperbole, histrionics and an occasional nugget of wisdom.
Starmer, on the other hand….all I can think is “how could such an unpleasant, socially disabled, nitwit rise as far as he has?” I’m obviously missing something.
Yes. Clearly. Performative from Trump. He ends up with more than he started with, just by being bellicose.
As for Starmer, I’m honestly not sure he can think properly at all. He is just good at remembering things, which is a lawyer’s main job.
I listened for 50 minutes to an eminent UK government advisor and I now understand why our politicians do nothing useful. Here is what I learnt:
“This is all now in flux. There is no easy answer. Its a hell of a heavy lift. These are really quite difficult structural obstacles. What I’m not arguing for is…These are really hard choices. You take bold measures where you possibly can. Don’t run from one kind of fancy to another. We have deindustrialised and I didn’t see many on the right objecting to that. ”
What we have to realise is that advisors wish to keep earning hourly whack. To this end, they say nothing that can comeback and bite them while at the same time appearing wise and knowledgable.
I think Freddie was far more thought provoking.
Good grief !!
I had the same reaction. If this is the quality of the advice they’re getting then God help us!
A masterclass of platitudes and equivocation
Not to mention an excruciating Irish/Mid Atlantic accent. I had to switch off halfway through, it was like listening to scratching fingernails over rusty corrugated iron.
Freddy seems to be in full panic mode over Greenland. Although I think Trump is acting like thug over Greenland, I can’t help but smile as the smug Europeans are in full panic mode. They know they couldn’t protect Greenland over any invasion, perhaps this is Trump’s move to illustrate this. Oh and please for a continent that is up in arms over Ukraine they have not done a damn thing about the situation except to continue to fund the war with their purchase of Russian oil. Good show Europe.
I think the Danes came out looking good. They dug in their heals and refused to budge, against a far larger opponent. In the end they lost nothing that they weren’t happy to give up at the start.