Most of us learned this lesson in grade school: Appeasement doesn’t stop a bully. It invites only more bullying. The only thing that works is standing up for yourself. It isn’t a guaranteed win. You might still get a bloody nose. But if you don’t fight back, you are certain to lose, again and again.

Europe learned this lesson in 1938, when Adolf Hitler threatened war on Europe unless Czechoslovakia surrendered its border region of Sudetenland. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain infamously led Europe’s negotiations, on behalf of the United Kingdom, France and Italy. He ultimately capitulated, pressuring Czechoslovakia to cede Sudetenland to Germany in return for the promise of peace. That appeasement only emboldened Hitler, and the rest is history.

Europe faces a similar choice today, and the continent needs to admit it. Threatening broad financial punishment or military force if Denmark, a close and reliable NATO ally, doesn’t hand Greenland to President Donald Trump, is not something Europe can negotiate with, even if Trump later walked it back. There is no middle ground here. If Europe does not stand up now, it surrenders.

China understands this lesson. By April of last year, Trump’s tariffs on China reached 145%, but China consistently counterpunched. China not only escalated tariffs on U.S. goods to nearly the same prohibitive amount, but it also introduced export restrictions on rare earth minerals — something the United States........

© The Korea Times