The current international political situation is characterized by a rethinking of the importance of security guarantees. Conflicts that until recently were considered local now affect the global security system. Ukraine has become a vivid example of how war can begin despite previously declared multilateral commitments and guarantees. Syria and Yemen continue to demonstrate the fragility of peace in the Middle East, while events around Sudan and the Sahel in Africa show how instability extends beyond national borders. In such circumstances, every state is forced to reconsider its attitude toward its own security, increasing defense spending and seeking ways to strengthen allied relations with partner countries. This logic applies not only to regions where armed conflicts are currently taking place, but also to those that were traditionally considered stable and not subject to external threats. Suddenly, the North Atlantic and North America found themselves at the epicenter of global attention. Questions about the future of Greenland and Canada have become topics of broad discussion about the inviolability of borders, the strength of sovereignties, and the reliability of allies that only yesterday seemed dependable.
Greenland Mania
The dissolution of global alliances represents a natural and logical shift toward a system of international relations that is more flexible in decision-making and more adaptive to current realities. The world is entering an era of threat-based partnerships, coalitions, and regional groupings that reject the principle that “the more countries, the better,” regardless of their military or economic relevance. In place of global blocs come regional mini-blocs — such as AUKUS, NORDEFCO or the Visegrád Group, technological unions, coalitions around infrastructure projects and partnerships on threats — cyber, space, artificial intelligence. These forms are more flexible, more adaptive, more logical, and therefore more durable, better reflecting the reality of the 21st century.
The same tendency is visible in defense procurement. In August 2025, Spain refused to purchase American F-35s produced by Lockheed Martin and chose European platforms — the Eurofighter Typhoon and the prospective Future Combat Air System (FCAS). The move reflects not only the aspiration for technological autonomy but also the desire to reduce dependence on Washington’s decision-making, which currently hinges in large part on the perceptions of the US President. This reflects how new unions are formed not only over borders and threats but also industrial and technological bases.
A new vector in the development of regional security has also emerged in the North Atlantic region. After numerous statements by Donald Trump about the need to revise the status of Greenland in order to deploy strategic facilities there – including a “Golden Dome” missile shield designed to protect against Russian and Chinese threats – European allies reacted with force. Several NATO member states announced their readiness to ensure the protection of the Denmark’s territorial integrity. In the first hours after these statements appeared, deployments of military units to Greenland began. In other words, a new coalition of states emerged, though one that still was operating within the framework of the wider alliance. This core of European states was guided by their own threat assessments and the need for immediate action.
Toward a New Normal on International Security
The Greenland episode illustrates the formation of a new security structure based on regional and situational groupings. Decisions are made quickly, in response to a specific and suddenly emerging threat, and cooperation is built around the shared interests of the states in the region — in this case, the European region and their readiness to act. The Greenland case shows how, within a large bloc, operational groupings of states arise that are capable of protecting strategically important territories and the principles of each state’s independence, regardless of political dynamics in certain capitals.
The example is not unique, and similar trends are emerging in other regions; specifically, the necessity of creating ad hoc cooperative structures that are independent of US influence. In Asia, this manifests in technological unions; in the Middle East, situational coalitions; and in Europe, in the search for a new security architecture.
The end of the era of global alliances marks the beginning of a new security architecture, one in which effectiveness is ensured by flexibility and security rests on concrete, targeted action between like-minded allies.
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