The world is entangled in multiple crises, and amid this turmoil, Donald Trump’s return to the American political scene presents a troubling vision of imperialism’s resurgence in the 21st century. Today, Ukraine, Gaza, Greenland, and even Canada exemplify efforts to recreate an order eerily reminiscent of the 20th-century Sykes-Picot Agreement—an order where nations’ fates were decided without their consent. In essence, it resembles a strategy of “Afghanization”—crushing a nation and surrendering its destiny to former terrorists. Trump’s coded return to old-world colonialism is nothing but the unrestrained 19th-century imperialism, fundamentally aimed at carving up the world. In this turbulent landscape, Trump’s maneuvers increasingly reveal the contours of a new global order—one that steers the world toward a new colonial structure. His policies indicate a unilateral, authoritarian, hierarchical worldview that diminishes the role of other global actors, including America’s own allies.
Regarding Ukraine, Trump, who repeatedly criticized Biden’s policies during his campaign, claimed that he would swiftly end the war upon assuming the presidency. However, evidence suggests that this approach effectively translates to halting military aid to Ukraine and pressuring Kyiv to compromise with Russia—a policy that would ultimately lead to surrendering occupied Ukrainian territories to Moscow. This scenario echoes the colonial-era partitions, where major powers divided lands without considering the will of their inhabitants—a strategy previously piloted in Afghanistan by excluding its official government from international negotiations. A recent example of this was the U.S.-Russia negotiations over Ukraine’s territorial fate in Saudi Arabia, where neither Kyiv nor European nations were invited. Since the onset of the Ukraine war in 2022, the U.S. has provided over $75 billion in military aid to Kyiv. Yet, Trump has openly declared his intention to halt this support, a move that could hand Russia a strategic victory and upend the balance of power in Europe.
On the other side, in Gaza, we witness an outright auctioning of the Palestinian people’s fate. Trump and his far-right Israeli allies are advancing what can be described as a “de-Palestinization” policy. From moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem to supporting illegal settlements, every action points to a demographic engineering project aimed at reshaping the region. Current proposals to forcibly relocate Gazans to the Sinai Desert or elsewhere further expose an orchestrated attempt to eliminate Palestinians from their homeland. In this framework, Gaza has become a bargaining chip for international power players, as if its future is being determined in a global auction without any say from its people. According to UN reports, over 70% of Gaza’s infrastructure has been destroyed during the war, and proposed reconstruction plans primarily favor demographic shifts in Israel’s interest. Alongside the Ukraine crisis, this represents a broader strategy of Trump’s America—creating irreversible realities on the ground and imposing them as unquestionable facts on other global actors.
Yet Trump’s ambitions extend beyond these regions. He has now floated the idea of purchasing Greenland—a proposal initially dismissed as absurd but, in reality, a reflection of his colonial mindset. With his new radical team, his territorial ambitions are gaining traction. Beyond Greenland, some of his extremist supporters have even entertained the notion of annexing parts of Canada as America’s 51st state. These ideas are not only alarming but also signal an effort to revive forms of imperialism long thought to be relics of the past. Canada, rich in mineral and energy resources, would significantly expand Washington’s control over the region’s natural wealth if incorporated into the U.S.
Against this backdrop, a new Sykes-Picot is taking shape. The original 1916 agreement, signed between Britain and France, determined the fate of the Middle East without the involvement of its people, sowing seeds of conflict for decades. Today, Trump appears intent on replicating this colonial model on a grander scale. His support for far-right nationalist movements, his encouragement of separatist tendencies in various nations, and his rejection of multilateralism all contribute to the redivision of global territories—this time not just through arbitrary borders but via economic, political, and military pressures.
Trump’s return is eerily reminiscent of a sequel to a horror movie, with perilous consequences for international stability. Though he may not employ classical imperialist methods, the essence of his policies aligns with a revived strategy of domination and unilateral power distribution—securing the entire geopolitical cake for himself. This time, imperialism is not merely driven by direct colonization but by backdoor agreements, geopolitical coercion, and exploitation of instability across the world. Currently, the U.S. maintains over 800 military bases worldwide, and given intensifying competition with China and Russia, this number may expand further under Trump. The world now stands on the brink of a new colonial-era partition—one where nations’ destinies are once again determined behind closed doors, without their genuine consent.
Given the brutal trajectory of global events and the massive geopolitical transformations underway, the critical question remains: Will the world descend into a third world war, or will it submit to Trump’s dominance over the global order? Time is passing faster than the world realizes, and the window for counteraction is rapidly closing.
