Could Alaska see yet another major Russia-US real estate deal?
First, as the real estate hyperbole goes, location, location, location. Alaska was part of the Russian Empire until 1867. That year, Tsar Alexander II, scarred by the Crimean War, and worried by the possibility that the British could capture his empire's eastern-most tip (the British could do those things then), sold it to the USA for $7.2 million- over $10 billion in today's currency. It was one of the 19th century's most significant real estate transactions. The territory, rich in natural resources including gold, is nearly one-fifth the size of the US.Then, the date. August 15 marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, which ended when Emperor Hirohito announced the surrender of Imperial Japan. The Japanese Empire was besieged by the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the August 8 invasion of Japanese-occupied Manchuria by Stalin, where over 700,000 Japanese soldiers were captured. (Two years later, Lord Louis Mountbatten who was Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia, suggested the date as the one when the British would finally pull out of India).Both Putin and Trump want an end to the fighting, but clearly, on their terms. Trump wants the big headline. Ending the Russia-Ukraine war, which is believed to have killed close to half a million soldiers, would boost Trump's claim for a Nobel Peace Prize as the 'Peace President'. He has, in recent months, repeatedly claimed to have brokered peace between India and Pakistan, a claim rebuffed by New Delhi. He claimed to have ended the Israel-Iran conflict with a massive bombing of Iranian nuclear sites on June 22.On August 8, Trump brokered peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan at the White House, a peace deal that will see the creation of a Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP). But Moscow could trip US plans for Russia to withdraw from all Ukrainian territories it has captured since 2014. President Putin is believed to have told Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff that he'll halt the war in exchange for eastern Ukraine. He also wants the withdrawal of all Ukrainian forces from the Russian-majority Donbas, a demilitarised Ukraine, and ironclad guarantees that Kiev will not join NATO.advertisementThe Washington grapevine suggests that Trump views the Russia-Ukraine war as yet another territorial war. Early in his second term, Trump wanted the US to prospect for rare earths and resources in Ukraine in exchange for a peace deal. If Trump leads a move for global recognition of Russia's territories, it would see one of the biggest redrawing of international boundaries in recent years, the kind that was seen in 1867 when the US purchased Alaska.Trump's predecessor, Andrew Johnson, was pilloried in Congress for the Alaska purchase. Johnson had succeeded the assassinated Abraham Lincoln.The Civil War ravaged US's purchase of Alaska, which was called 'Seward's folly' — for the US secretary of state who signed the deal, and Jackson's 'Polar Bear Garden'. The criticism ended when huge gold deposits were discovered in Alaska a few years later. Johnson's real estate gamble turned out to be a windfall. That's exactly the kind of story Trump, the real estate tycoon turned President, wants to see in 2025.- Ends(Views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author)Tune InMust Watch
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