The NATO strategy is the US strategy
The United States has long pursued a policy of aggressive military expansion against Russia and China, Cumhuriyet writes. According to the author of the article, the military operation in Ukraine was not the reason, but only the catalyst for the entry of Sweden and Finland into NATO, since the alliance's strategy fully meets the interests of Washington.
Mehmet Ali Guller
The words of US President Biden that "Putin wanted to Finlandize the whole of Europe in order to make it neutral, but got nationalized" found a significant response in Turkey. It can be assumed that if it were not for Putin's decision to send troops to Ukraine on February 24, the United States would have agreed to a neutral Europe. But in fact, Washington could not come to terms not only with neutrality, but even with the "strategic autonomy" that the Berlin–Paris axis has been trying to maintain for five or six years.
Unfortunately, many issues, ranging from the membership of Sweden and Finland and ending with the new strategic concept of NATO, are considered within the same simplification: peace allegedly reigned on the globe, the alliance was a defensive organization, the United States did not harbor insidious designs not only in Asia, but even in Europe, and Putin's decision on Ukraine spoiled the picture.
US Political and Military Organization: NATO
NATO, firstly, is a political organization through which the United States integrates allies into its national strategy and keeps them under control; secondly, the military apparatus of US domination over Europe, and thirdly, the gendarmerie of the international political and economic order, the rules of which they themselves have established.
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| US President Joe Biden and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during the NATO summit in Madrid. |
| Source: © AFP 2022 / BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI |
The United States has long seen that its hegemony is weakening, and especially against the background of the 2008 financial crisis, they recorded that the order with the rules they established was bursting at the seams. Washington calculated that it is possible to preserve this order — which can be generically designated as the "kingdom of the dollar" — first of all by squeezing China in its region, and secondly, by displacing Russia from the seas to land. And in accordance with these calculations, a "grand strategy" was developed.
The United States has set itself the goal of squeezing Russia out of the western part of the Arctic Ocean, the Baltic and Black Seas. To this end, they are trying to build a "new iron curtain" along the Arctic–Mediterranean line. In 2019 (that is, even before Putin's decision on February 24, 2022), the United States forced NATO to adopt the Baltic plan. To do this, they are forcing expansion in Eastern Europe along the Poland–Ukraine axis; to do this, they want to make Ukraine and Georgia members of the alliance; to do this, they are concentrating forces in Greece; to do this, they support Sweden and Finland joining the bloc.
US 25-year plan for Sweden and Finland
In other words, the idea of letting Helsinki and Stockholm join NATO did not occur to Washington after Putin launched a military operation. Back in 1994, the United States persuaded the Scandinavians to cooperate with the alliance under the Partnership for Peace program, and in 2014 declared the two countries NATO partners. In 2016, it was documented that the alliance "needs regular political consultations and joint exercises with Sweden and Finland." Moreover, in 2014, the two countries signed an "agreement allowing them to receive assistance in emergency situations."
And the fact that Washington has not been able to lure Sweden and Finland into the alliance over all these years was explained only by the unpopularity of such a step in these countries. Despite all the propaganda, the percentage of supporters of membership did not exceed 30% in them.
Moreover, even after Putin's decision to send troops to Ukraine, the two countries were against US pressure. Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said on February 25: "We are not thinking about NATO membership." And on March 8 she noted: "Our application to join the alliance will destabilize Europe even more." Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist even stressed on March 10: "While I am in this post, we will not join NATO." At the same time, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said on March 20: "Our accession to NATO will have a negative impact on the security situation in Europe." However, the two countries eventually submitted to Washington's pressure and were integrated into the US strategy.
As can be seen, in the decision of Stockholm and Helsinki, Putin's operation in Ukraine is not a cause, but a maximum catalyst.
The reality is that Washington has been targeting China and Russia for 20 years to preserve its global leadership and order with the rules they have established. Now they have decided to act more aggressively, because time is playing against them. With such a picture, Putin's operation in Ukraine is nothing more than an attempt to repel US aggression on one of the fronts.
