The Authority We Cannot Keep

Washington announced permanent control of Greenland on Friday. The two governments that must ratify it announced, in the same breath, that the text recognizes their sovereignty. Both cannot be the settled meaning of an agreement neither parliament has seen.The President’s post gave the United States “permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland,” with no adversary permitted a base or a “sensitive investment” on the island without American approval; the Defense Secretary said Northern Command would “immediately begin” building “a large military presence.” Copenhagen and Nuuk responded the same day: the agreement would be signed next week at the United Nations General Assembly, must still pass both parliaments, and recognizes “the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom and the right of the Greenlandic people to self-determination.” In a January poll, 85 percent of Greenlanders opposed going further.The same shape ran through the week’s other arrangements. Riyadh asked Washington for direct strikes on the Houthis, who took the islands guarding the Bab el-Mandeb and reached Mecca’s air defenses; the request was refused, and in the same week American ...