Current Events & Trends: March/April 2026

The geostrategic value of Greenland

The moves under U.S. President Donald Trump to press for control over Greenland, now an autonomous territory of Denmark, have been met with antagonism from European nations. What’s behind the U.S. policy?

Some chalk it up to swagger and self-aggrandizement. Others think it’s about acquiring rare earth minerals to compete with China. Yet, as analysts point out, China controls 90 percent of rare earth processing, so that Western ore will be flowing through Chinese

refineries for a good while to come. As one report explained: “You do not solve a processing monopoly by acquiring unprocessed rock on the other side of the planet . . . [So] what is Greenland actually about?” (“The Real Reason the US Wants to Take Over Greenland,” The Minority Report, Jan. 15, 2026).

The report lists three things. The first concerns military positioning guarding the GUIK Gap (Greenland-Iceland-UK) naval chokepoint, which includes early warning against Russian ballistic missiles coming over the Arctic. While there has already been a defense agreement between America and Denmark for this purpose, outright control would hedge against shifts in international alignments and the European security structure.

Second is control over emerging sea routes as Arctic ice melts, reducing Asia-Europe travel time by up to 40 percent compared to the Suez Canal, being gatekeeper and toll collector rather than toll payer (though it would still cost to hold).

Third, perhaps most important, is denying strategic positioning to China, which has declared itself a “near-Arctic state” and is pursuing a “Polar Silk Road.” If Greenland ever aligned with or gave access to China, it would be within striking distance of America, would have access to Arctic shipping chokepoints and would have a foothold in NATO’s traditional sphere of influence.

Geostrategic chokepoints, such as vital sea lanes, are relevant to understanding Bible prophecy. God foretold future national greatness for the descendants of Israel, foremost among them the tribes of Joseph’s sons Ephraim and Manasseh—largely represented today among the people of Britain and America (as explained in our free study guide The Unted States and Britain in Bible Prophecy). And a major factor in their international dominance was to be the possession of the gates of their enemies (Genesis 22:17; 24:60; compare Nahum 3:13). It’s not coincidental that Britain and America have possessed and controlled many of the vital land and sea gates in modern history.

What will happen with Greenland is unclear. Is this a time of gaining yet more geopolitical gates—or seeing these chokepoints continue to slip away? Time will tell, but the United States still has a significant measure of control here for the near future. Some think President Trump is not really trying to acquire Greenland—that this is more about ensuring long-term guarantees and leverage in other negotiations with Europe. Yet that may also serve to further divide America from its NATO partners—another factor that may bear on prophesied events.

27 percent of U.S. self-checkout shoppers admit stealing

A Lending Tree survey in October 2025 found that 27 percent of American shoppers using self-checkout machines have deliberately taken items without scanning them (“More Than 1 in 4 Self-Checkout Shoppers Admit They’ve Stolen: Survey,” The Hill, Dec. 6, 2025). For Millennials and Gen Z adults the figure is around 40 percent! For older people of the baby boom generation the figure is much less—only 2 percent.

A third of those who’ve stolen say they feel no remorse, while more than half feel they’ll do it again. People excuse themselves by saying higher prices are “unfair” or “too high.” Many even see self-checkout as “unpaid work” and taking small items as “compensation.” Strangely, those making over $100,000 were the most likely to take without scanning—40 percent, versus 17 percent of those making less than $30,000. Maybe there is some sense of entitlement in that or less fear among wealthier people of any consequences for being caught.

God’s Word thunders, “You shall not steal”! (Exodus 20:15). But clearly morality has plummeted. Many stores are now rethinking self-checkout, and some are pulling back. (For more on what God says about this matter, request or download our free study guide The Ten Commandments.)

Is an “Islamic NATO” coming together?

Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement this past September. Then in January reports began circulating that Turkey was seeking to join the defense alliance. An article in The Times of India was titled

“Islamic Nato in making? How Turkish arms, Saudi cash and Pakistan nukes could align—all about the defence pact” (Jan. 14, 2026).

The pact “states that ‘any aggression’ against one member would be treated as an attack on all—a provision that mirrors Article 5 of Nato, of which Turkey is a member and fields the second-largest military after the US . . . If Turkey formally joins the pact, it would highlight a new phase in relations with Saudi Arabia, once rivals for leadership of the Sunni Muslim world” (ibid.).

Then Qatar’s royal family member Hamad bid Jassim Al Thani, a former prime minister, “proposed including Egypt and presumably his own country too. Bloomberg reported right after that Saudi Arabia is finalizing a military pact with Turkish-allied Somalia and Egypt for curtailing the [United Arab Emirates’ or] UAE’s influence in Africa . . . [And] Pakistan cinched its own security pact with Somalia over the summer” and had talks with Egypt (Andrew Korybko, “The Nascent ‘Islamic NATO’ Might Soon Set Its Sights on Somaliland,” Substack, Jan. 17, 2026).

“The members of this emerging Saudi-centric coalition all oppose Somaliland’s 1991 redeclaration of independence [from Somalia], which was recently recognized by Israel. Somaliland also has close ties with the UAE and Ethiopia” (ibid).

This merits attention going forward. The Bible speaks in Psalm 83 of a large confederacy arrayed against Israel made up of surrounding peoples that are today Muslim. Daniel 11 foretells an end-time power bloc under a “king of the South,” with ancient roots in Egypt—which will at some point attack the “king of the North,” an end-time revival of the Roman Empire centered in Europe. A fledgling Islamic alliance could eventually develop into the end-time southern power. (To learn more, request or download our free study guide The Middle East in Bible Prophecy.)