Countries treating Others Like "Chopped Liver"

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                  

     Greenland and Denmark's real estate going up:  President Trump's renewed efforts to acquire or gain control of Greenland remain a major geopolitical flashpoint, driven by the island's strategic location, natural resources, and the prospect of expanding the U.S. military footprint.  Rejection by Greenland: Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen has strongly pushed back on U.S. pressure, reiterating that "the people of Greenland are not for sale" and that Greenlanders have the right to self-determination.  Evidently they are not going to be "chopped liver."

When nations treat others like "chopped liver," they are treating allies, neighbors, or smaller states as insignificant, easily replaceable, or unworthy of respect. This dynamic surfaces frequently in geopolitics and international relations.  The phrase "What am I, chopped liver?" comes from American Jewish humor and the culinary tradition of serving chopped liver as a side dish or appetizer rather than the main course. It is used to express frustration or feeling overlooked when someone else receives more attention or recognition.  

James Francis Durante Italian: February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced songs, and prominent nose helped make him one of the United States' most familiar and popular personalities of the 1920s through the 1970s. He often referred to his nose as the schnozzola (Italianization of the American Yiddish slang word schnoz, meaning "big nose"), and the word became his nickname.

The iconic phrase "What am I, chopped liver?" was popularized by Jewish comedians in the Borscht Belt of New York's Catskill Mountains during the 1930s. The late comedian and entertainer Jimmy Durante is famously credited with bringing the expression into the mainstream, using it on his 1954 television show.

Front Row:   England's Prime Minister at the Yalta Conference in February 1945 was Winston Churchill. He attended the historic meeting alongside U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin to discuss the postwar reorganization of Germany and Europe.  Superpower Disregard for Allies: Major powers (e.g., the United States, Russia, China) are frequently accused of treating smaller alliance members like side dishes. A prime historical example is the Yalta Conference, where spheres of influence over Eastern Europe were decided by the "Big Three," often ignoring the sovereignty of the affected nations.  

US President Donald Trump's new tariffs on imports from more than 90 countries have come into effect.

The tariffs mean companies that bring foreign goods into the US will have to pay the taxes to the government, and experts say these companies may pass costs on to consumers.

Brazil faces one of the highest US tariff rates in the world, with a 50% rate applied to most goods.

India is also set to be hit with a 50% rate, effective from 27 August.

Negotiations are still under way, with both Washington and Beijing agreeing to delay any new tariffs until 12 August.  

Economic Sanctions and Trade Wars: When economic heavyweights implement tariffs or sanctions without consulting trading partners, it sends a strong message of disregard. For instance, U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs or the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) frequently draw criticism from trading partners who feel their economic stability is being treated as an afterthought.

Regional Hegemons and Minorities: In conflicts across the Middle East, the Caucasus (such as the dynamics between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh), or Africa, regional powers often ignore the rights of smaller ethnic enclaves or bordering states to secure their own territorial or strategic goals.

Global Summit Exclusions: When climate pacts or security agreements are negotiated exclusively by the world's largest emitters or nuclear powers, leaving vulnerable developing nations to deal with the consequences, it is frequently characterized diplomatically as treating those smaller nations like chopped liver.  Right now this might apply to how the UE feels towards Iran who has or had been developing nuclear powers.  The threat is still there.  The UE is part of the Abraham Accords and is friends with Israel.  

President Trump told reporters that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "will do whatever I want him to do" regarding Iran after a tense and "dramatic" phone conversation. The comments were made as the Trump administration pursued diplomatic talks with Tehran, which initially sparked a disagreement with Jerusalem,

In diplomacy, being the side dish usually translates to being ignored until you are needed, bypassed on critical decision-making, or sacrificed to appease a larger adversary.  This can apply to any ongoing business and their customers, as well.