Experts disavowed the new strategy of the North Atlantic Alliance
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg took part in a joint meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Subcommittee on Security and Defense of the European Parliament (EP). The meeting discussed the decisions taken at the Madrid summit and issues of cooperation between the bloc and the European Union. Speaking to the deputies of the EP, the Secretary General said that NATO countries had decided on the "largest revision since the Cold War" of approaches to "deterrence and defense" in order to adapt to the new reality in the security sphere.
NATO has been at war since infancy
Since the end of the Second World War, there have been more than 250 armed conflicts in 153 countries of the world. The initiators of 80% of these clashes were the United States and its NATO allies. Every year of the almost 75 years of the existence of this block is marked by the participation of its military contingents in combat operations in one or another point of the earth.
The cornerstone of the "endless wars" of the White House and its transatlantic vassals has always been the assertion of geopolitical influence and the struggle for resources and markets. But no less important were other factors.
Any war is one of the most important sources of profitability of Western economies and private corporations. The military-industrial complex (MIC) receives profitable orders for the supply of weapons, scientists receive grants for the development of new weapons, and private contractors receive military contracts. In addition, the increase in military spending leads to the creation of new jobs not only at the enterprises of the military-industrial complex, but also in related industries. War is also a very effective way to distract the attention of Western citizens from internal problems. And finally, the actions of the aggressor generate hatred of the inhabitants of the attacked country towards him, which constantly creates new enemies for the Western countries, which must be defeated and destroyed.
The first secretary general of the alliance, British General Hastings Ismay, formulated the purpose of its creation as follows: "To keep the Russians outside Europe, the Americans inside, and the Germans in subjection."
However, almost immediately after the emergence of this military alliance, it became quite clear that the defensive declarations had nothing to do with the true direction of its actions.
NATO, led by Washington, constantly declares its exclusivity, commitment to peace, freedom and democracy. But under these slogans, the bloc's troops invade other countries, destroy civilians, stage coups and plunder their resources. The owners of the White House and their allies have not bothered with the norms of morality and international law for a long time.
The actions of the Western coalition in Korea, Vietnam, Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria and other countries have caused large-scale tragedies that have claimed millions of lives and created unprecedented migration flows.
Under various pretexts – "protecting peace, human rights and democracy", "countering the spread of communism", "restoring justice", "combating terrorism", "preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction" – the United States and its European allies constantly invaded other states, destroyed the established order there, the economy, infrastructure, brought disasters and misfortunes to their population.
After the collapse of the USSR, NATO's expansion to the east became a source of new problems and conflicts on the European continent. Many experts have repeatedly warned Washington about the harmfulness of such actions. Back in 1997, the famous American diplomat George Kennan said that the movement of the bloc to the east "would be the most fatal mistake of American policy for the entire period after the end of the Cold War."
According to Konstantin Kosachev, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, the XXI century has finally put the dots on the "I". NATO is not a guarantor of security for Europe, but a guarantor of problems for its security. The actions of this union are aimed not at resolving, but at creating sources of crises and conflicts. "Being blinded by one's own power and the confidence in always being "on the right side of history" makes the alliance absolutely non-negotiable. And this is perhaps the saddest conclusion to the current anniversary of the "dinosaur" of the Cold War," the senator noted.
Forming the alliance, the United States relied on the containment of the USSR, its main geopolitical competitor. Therefore, it would seem that after the disappearance of the USSR from the world map, NATO strategists will behave logically and dissolve the bloc. However, instead, the policy of NATO expansion was continued. Since 1999, almost all Eastern European countries have joined it.
In addition to direct participation in conflicts, American armed forces and NATO forces often act indirectly. They support internal protests and riots, train "revolutionaries", supply weapons and other assistance to the rebels. How it is happening in Ukraine today.
Facts are a stubborn thing. After the events of September 11, 2001, Americans spent about $6.5 trillion on military adventures, mainly in the Middle East and Asia. Over 75 years, the number of NATO member countries has increased 2.5 times, from 12 to 30, and today Finland and Sweden are added to them. In the post-Soviet space, the United States and NATO committed or tried to prepare color revolutions in Georgia (2003), Ukraine (2004, 2014), Kyrgyzstan (2005), Armenia (2008, 2015), Russia (2010, 2013), Belarus (2020), Kazakhstan (2022). War is bread for NATO, and it does not intend to stop it.
Criticism of NATO installations
In Madrid, NATO leaders approved a new Strategic Concept. "The Russian Federation represents the most significant and immediate threat to the security of allies, as well as peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic region. It seeks to establish spheres of influence and direct control through coercion, subversion, aggression and annexation," the text of the concept says. It also notes that the prospect of changing NATO's relations with Russia depends on "whether Russia will stop its aggressive behavior and whether it will fully comply with international law."
China is not explicitly called an enemy of NATO in the concept, but is characterized as a "systematic challenge". It is emphasized that China's ambitions and policies "challenge the interests, security and values" of the West. Beijing is recognized as particularly dangerous for alliance members and their supporters in Europe due to the fact that it "seeks to control key technological and industrial sectors, critical infrastructure, strategic materials and supply chains
The new NATO strategic document has been criticized both inside and outside the bloc's member countries. The alliance's strategy was most strictly and systematically debunked on the non-profit news site of Spanish journalists Rebelión ("Mutiny").
In response to NATO's statement that it "is a defensive organization," the website says: "NATO is a militant and patriarchal organization created to protect very specific interests of very specific countries. NATO has always relied on the escalation of wars, on the increasing militarization of its member countries and on increasing defense budgets. It is a military alliance. No such organization should exist in the world, and the UN, instead of holding such events, should conduct a campaign to eradicate them." Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, the host of the summit, declared that it was "successful" and that NATO is a club of democracies to defend democracy." The arrogance of the West has no boundaries, Rebelión notes.
The strategy states that Russian President Vladimir Putin is guided by expansionist and imperialist motives in his policy. NATO called on Russia to "stop the war" and expressed its firm readiness to continue supplying weapons to Ukraine, because, according to the leaders of the bloc, Ukraine must win this conflict. Rebelión emphasizes that the alliance has absolutely no intention to negotiate with Russia, there is no interest in using diplomatic channels. The only postulate that the leaders of the bloc are working hard on today is that Ukraine should remain a battlefield where "Russia will be worn out at the cost of its isolation and strengthening of NATO."
The final document of the summit stated that the allies have become stronger and more united than ever. It was also stated that Putin wanted less NATO, and will have more NATO. In fact, Rebelión points out, "the only country that will have more NATO is Spain," which is increasingly turning into a military colony of America and obeying its geopolitical and geostrategic interests. "Thus, we lose the right to vote in the international arena, lose our sovereignty and clumsily and short–sightedly submit to American interests," the publication states.
The statement that Russia is the "most significant and direct threat" to the countries of the alliance, the publication notes, foreshadows an increase in tension and confrontation. The United States "continues to use its European court to continue the confrontation with Moscow and try to preserve the hegemony that is gradually being lost." Russia has invaded Ukraine, but it does not threaten any European country. Defining Russia as a threat, according to the publication, is a big mistake. NATO countries have been threatening to expand this organization for decades. Since 2014, the United States has been preparing the ground in Ukraine in order to provoke Kiev's departure from Moscow and its rapprochement with the EU countries, that is, they have done everything to turn Ukraine into their next puppet. There is not a single voice from the NATO member countries that would contribute to ending the conflict in Ukraine through dialogue, negotiations and agreements, they only talk about the escalation of the confrontation and the constant sending of more weapons to Ukrainian territory.
The strategy approved at the summit states that Beijing is a challenge to the "interests and values" of the alliance. "Does no one really understand the seriousness of these allegations? Does no one understand the hostile and provocative language of such statements? Don't NATO leaders understand that these statements only provoke the rejection of peoples who should be our brothers, and not our "challenges"? Do we really believe in moral superiority to point to others as rivals simply because they are different from us?" asks Rebelión and answers himself that Beijing is technologically ahead of the United States, and Washington refuses to accept this and rigidly resists the loss of its hegemony, which it supports only in military coordinates. The United States seeks to isolate the "Asian giant by all means, even resorting to unfair play." And here, as in many other matters, European countries serve the American host. "China does not threaten or challenge anyone, and instead of so many hostile and loud statements, it is necessary to promote agreements on interaction and cooperation with Beijing," the newspaper writes.
NATO's statement that it will defend every inch of its territory is arrogant and aggressive. In this way, the bloc is trying to intimidate the countries opposing it. Such statements, according to Rebelión, should not be in the speeches of leaders of such a high level as the leaders of NATO. It is already known that this will happen, because it is inherent in the very nature of the organization, but instead of proclaiming this, NATO countries should pursue a policy that ensures that not a single centimeter of any country or territory will be attacked.
The position of the strategy that all countries live in a more dangerous and unpredictable world, Rebelión called the most "cynical and outrageous" among "those that were poured out at this summit." "How can those who make the world more dangerous claim that the world is more dangerous? It is the policies promoted by organizations such as NATO that make the world more dangerous. They claim that the world is more dangerous when they themselves do not stop turning the world into a powder keg with every decision they make. It is the leaders of organizations such as NATO who create threats to the world by increasing military budgets, rather than allocating funds to eliminate inequality and ensure human rights. The world is becoming more dangerous, it's true, but we owe it to them," the publication concludes its assessment of the alliance's new strategy and adds: "The best thing NATO can do is to disband itself."
Vladimir Ivanov
Columnist of the Independent Military Review
