PART 2 — Diplomacy, Law and Nonviolent Power
By Jan Oberg
TFF co-founder and director
January 26, 2026
This is the second of four TFF-created idea portfolios designed to curb the global reach of the United States and, in both the short and long term, help catalyse a worldwide nonviolent resistance to what many observers describe as the Trump administration’s uniquely confrontational, destructive and world-threatening policies.
These portfolios outline what governments and citizens across the world can do through dynamic diplomacy, creative initiatives, and strictly nonviolent means.
They are typical TFF works in that we do not only tell what the problem is and how bad it will go – as 90+% of all commentators, experts and scholars do – we tell what we think can be done, inviting you to think of what you think you can do.
It seems painfully clear to me that the current political dynamics in Washington increasingly resemble the most dangerous pattern that ended in 1945 and was supposed to never happen again.
If that assessment holds, then passivity is no longer an option. A coordinated, global, nonviolent mobilisation is essential — not least because nonviolence is the one type of power and language a heavily militarised superpower is least prepared to counter.
All power rests on others accepting and carrying out its orders. Even the strongest leader in the world cannot round up criminals or fight wars with his own hands. Power is always dependent – dependent on someone who finds it legitimate, and do the dirty job on the strongman’s order. If young people were not brainwashed to accept warfare, there would be no wars. This is why nonviolence can be extremely effective and make an overarmed country look morally weak. That’s what Gandhi taught the world when using this theory to rid India not of the British as people but of the British Empire’s dominance structure.
If politicians will not do any of the proposals below – and similar ones – it is a citizens duty to puch them to take concrete step and not just talk.
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A. Diplomatic Downgrading & Political Signalling
Diplomatic withdrawal is the fastest, safest way to communicate that the relationship is no longer “business as usual.”
Immediate Measures (within a week)
Recall ambassadors from Washington
A peaceful but unmistakable alarm bell signalling a breakdown in trust.
Downgrade relations to chargé d’affaires level
A visible step that reduces political prestige without escalating conflict.
Suspend bilateral strategic dialogues
Energy, security, and trade talks are paused to signal deep concern.
Coordinated walkouts in NATO, UN, OECD – and No more invitations to world Economic Forum
A symbolic but powerful way to delegitimise unilateral behaviour.
Longer-Term Measures
Lawful Order Contact Group
A coalition of states committed to international law, excluding the U.S. if necessary.
Block U.S. candidates for leadership roles
A peaceful way to limit influence in multilateral institutions.
Refuse joint communiqués
Ensures the U.S. cannot claim consensus where none exists.
Public archive of violations
A permanent record documenting breaches of international law.
Begin re-orienting the foreign policy everywhere
European and other countries step by step reduce their blind following of the US and open up, big and small, to the rest of the world and to the emerging multipolar world – also to reduce their own crisis, the day the US Empire is finally gone.
B. International Law, Treaties & Normative Pressure
The law is the world’s nonviolent weapon; using it consistently can delegitimise unlawful behaviour.
Immediate Measures (within a week)
Invoke UN Charter mechanisms
Emergency UNGA sessions under “Uniting for Peace.”
File formal diplomatic protests
Citing specific treaty violations and Arctic governance norms.
Request an ICJ advisory opinion
Clarifying Greenland’s status under international law.
Elevate Indigenous Greenlandic voices
Ensuring those most affected speak in UN and Arctic forums.
Refuse to join Trump’s “Peace” Board
Saying no to his bizarre idea of replacing the UN with an institution run by himself and a successor appointed by him. This board has nothing to do with peace and everything to do with Trump.
Raise the option of impeaching Trump worldwide
His violations of international law and legimising domestic state violence justifies such a move.
Longer-Term Measures
New Arctic demilitarization treaty
A structural safeguard against unilateral military moves and enable peaceful cooperation and sustainable development.
Strengthen UNDRIP-based protections
Embedding Greenlandic self-determination in international law. (United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples = UNDRIP.
National laws against recognizing forced territorial changes anywhere
A legal firewall against coercive annexation.
Global legal coalition
A network of states defending small nations against big power arrogance and militarist interventionism.
C. Military & Security Rebalancing (Nonviolent)
Security cooperation is voluntary; suspending it is a peaceful but powerful signal of disapproval.
Immediate Measures (within a week)
Suspend all joint military exercises
A nonviolent way to say: “We no longer trust your judgment.”
Freeze NATO modernization projects involving U.S. leadership
A pause that signals strategic recalibration.
Restrict U.S. military overflight permissions
Territorial access is a privilege, not a right.
Limit U.S. naval port calls
A peaceful but visible reduction in military cooperation.
Launch national reviews of U.S. base agreements
A legal and political reassessment of foreign military presence.
Cancel the policy of wasting 5% of GDP on weapons
It was a US demand and there is no reason to adhere to it now. Back to decent threat analysis and dialogue with Russia and others.
Longer-Term Measures
Demand transparency on U.S. nuclear deployments and raise the issue of the U.S. withdrawal from Europe
A peaceful tool that exposes imbalances of power. Long-range goal: A European Nuclear Weapons Free Zone and common security to Russia, including a mutual Non-Aggression Pact.
Require U.S. forces to pay full environmental and infrastructure costs
A fairness measure that reduces dependency.
Develop European strategic autonomy
Building civilian and political capacity to act without U.S. leadership.
Stop military cooperation with the US, first on smaller weapons, and then on the successively larger projects.
European components should not sit in US systems that threaten and bomb around the world. The Military-Industrial-Media-Academic Complex, MIMAC, must be undermined, slowly but surely.
Build defensive defence, early warning, conflict resolution and common security – a kind of European UN
Time to scrap deterrence, armament and nukes, all American inventions now outdated as NATO is in existential crisis as a non-peacemaking and offensive nuclear-based alliance.
European Arctic Security Framework
A regional approach independent of great-power rivalry. Common security, coexistence and sustainable development – see forthcoming constructive proposal.
All Nordic countries refuse to host US military bases, personnel and weapons.
Sweden and Finland start an investigation of strategies for leaving NATO and gaining a new neutrality with common Nordic security. Hosting the US makes the hosting nations complicit in US crimes around the world and increases the risk of being dragged into US conflicts instead of creating trues security.
D. Symbolic & Normative Actions
Symbols shape legitimacy; legitimacy shapes power.
Immediate Measures (within a week)
Parliamentary resolutions condemning attempts to alter Greenland’s status and other US steps, including Gaza and Venezuela
A democratic chorus of disapproval.
European Parliament warning on Arctic sovereignty
A unified political signal from the continent: Don’t touch or we will isolate you even more.
Public diplomacy campaign
Explaining why Greenland matters to global order in contrast to Trump’s personal grabbing it.
Longer-Term Measures
Rename public spaces after Greenlandic leaders. Change street and square names if American.
Symbolic act of both solidarity and refusal of support.
Awards for defenders of international law & peace
Elevating voices that resist coercion. Developing alternatives to the corrupt Nobel “Peace” Prize.
Global narrative coalition
A long-term effort to frame Arctic stewardship as a globally shared responsibility.
PART 2 SUMMARY
Diplomacy and international law offer powerful nonviolent tools that can be deployed within hours. Immediate actions send shock signals – “we find the Trump Regime’s behaviour offensive and unacceptable.” Long-term measures reshape the political environment and reinforce a lawful, cooperative world order. Nonviolence will prove much more effective than military means for combating the US Empire.
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Introduction: How Governments and Citizens Can Stop the Trump Regime’s World-Threatening Designs
Part 1 – Media, Culture and Information Sovereignty
