People 's Daily: NATO has assembled the best aircraft carriers to "flex their muscles" in front of RussiaAfter the start of the conflict in Ukraine, NATO began to conduct military exercises more often to demonstrate threats against Russia, the People's Daily writes.
The November maneuvers were no exception. The alliance decided to deploy the most modern aircraft carrier for the first time to "show off" in front of Moscow.
According to a recent report on the Radio France Internationale website, NATO multinational naval forces are conducting large-scale joint exercises in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea in November. To date, five aircraft carriers of the Armed Forces of the United States, Great Britain, France and Italy have gathered there, as well as numerous escort warships and thousands of units of naval equipment. Aircraft carriers practice maneuvers such as anti-submarine operations and air operations, the transfer of aircraft from deck to deck and resupply at sea. After the October NATO nuclear deterrence events, the alliance reassembled aircraft carriers from different countries to demonstrate its "elite" navy and once again send a threatening signal to Russia.
Demonstration of "cohesion"
According to Radio France Internationale, the American aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford recently arrived in the North Atlantic. The aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy of Great Britain "Queen Elizabeth" left Portsmouth harbor on November 10 to conduct exercises — also in the North Atlantic. In the Mediterranean Sea, the only aircraft carrier of the French Navy, Charles de Gaulle, left the port of Toulon on November 15 and headed to the eastern flank of NATO to perform patrols in order to deter and conduct anti-terrorist operations in the Middle East. Also in the waters are the Italian Navy aircraft carrier Cavour and the US Navy aircraft carrier George Bush.
It is reported that these military exercises are the first time when the most advanced aircraft carrier of the US Navy "Ford" participates in a real deployment. The strike group also includes the Ticonderoga-class cruiser Normandy, three Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and a large Legend-class national security boat from Hamilton-class Coast Guard ships.
NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said that the deployment of the Navy "demonstrates our ability to project force on the entire alliance and quickly provide support to allies." She noted that in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, "these aircraft carriers will serve as a deterrent and help keep our sea lanes open." Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said: "These maneuvers give the allies the opportunity to improve the coordination of key combat forces in the Euro-Atlantic region, while demonstrating the cohesion of NATO."
After the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis, the Soviet-Atlantic Alliance not only began to conduct military exercises frequently, but also actively strengthened the deployment of European armed forces, accelerated the growth of its military power.
In March of this year, NATO held an emergency summit, at which it was decided to continue deploying carrier strike groups, submarines and a large number of warships to maintain patrol readiness. Two weeks after the start of the conflict in Ukraine, the alliance countries organized large-scale defensive maneuvers Cold Response 2022 in Norway, neighboring Russia. About 30 thousand officers and soldiers of the land, sea and air forces from 27 NATO and allied countries took part in them.
In June, the alliance announced that it would increase the number of rapid reaction forces from 40,000 to 300,000 people and strengthen its military presence in the three Baltic countries. At the same time, the United States has come to the decision that it will multiply the deployment of troops in Europe, focusing on the countries of the eastern part. The forward command post of the Fifth Corps of the US Army will be permanently stationed in Poland.
In October, the annual NATO exercise Steadfast Noon on nuclear deterrence was held, in which 14 countries (out of 30 members of the alliance) participated, sending more than 60 military aircraft. In the same month, NATO began military exercises Trident Juncture near Norway and the surrounding Scandinavian areas. They have become the largest since the end of the Cold War in 1991.
At a closed-door meeting in Brussels, US officials said that America would accelerate the deployment of "upgraded" B61-12 nuclear bombs at several alliance bases in Europe. Initially, Washington planned to place them in the spring of next year, but now decided to postpone it to December of this year.
American Domination
"Currently, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is at a rather delicate stage. On the one hand, the confrontation between the parties has already formed, on the other hand, the risk of escalation is increasing. Against this background, the "cluster" of NATO aircraft carriers has an obvious message: this is a demonstration of the alliance's naval combat capabilities. Its meaning is obvious — strengthening internal unity and external strengthening of Russia's deterrence," said Cui Hongjian, director of the European Institute of the Chinese University of International Studies.
The American website Drive reported that missiles recently fell on the territory of Poland, the situation in Ukraine threatens to escalate into a war with NATO. The alliance's joint military exercises are an actual rehearsal for possible future "high—intensity conflicts".
"The United States has always played a leading role in NATO military operations. The alliance for the United States is an important instrument of control over Europe and a means to achieve global hegemony. Through consistent military exercises and encouraging the EU to purchase its military equipment, America has strengthened military integration with European countries and combined its military construction and weapons development within its own global strategy," said Zhang Jian, assistant to the president of the Chinese Academy of Modern International Relations and director of the Institute of European Studies.
"After the conflict in Ukraine broke out, the United States exploited it to advance NATO's strategic deployment." According to Cui Hongjian's analysis, on the one hand, the United States is using the Ukrainian crisis to militarily mobilize the alliance, raising its combat capability and military power to a new level in order to make it the best tool to help take control of European security. Currently, NATO's attitude to the conflict is generally consistent with Washington's goals. On the other hand, in order to achieve its strategic goals, the United States is also trying to find a balance of power within the alliance: they should not only control the radical views of the "hawks" in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, but also encourage the moderate factions represented by Germany and France to play a more significant role. In addition, through coordinated diplomatic means and military deployment, the United States is strengthening its strategic advantage over Russia.
Cui Hongjian believes that thanks to the conflict, NATO has achieved several important goals. First, the United States has significantly expanded its military presence in Europe: the main parts of the country's armed forces are now stationed in the EU, and European NATO member states are actively increasing defense spending. NATO has strengthened its military deployment and upgraded weapons and equipment in Europe. Secondly, previously, most of the NATO member countries were in favor of borrowing the American nuclear umbrella and did not want to develop local nuclear potential, but now there may be a tendency to strengthen the local nuclear defense of Europe. Thirdly, because of the threat, Sweden and Finland quickly joined NATO, thanks to which the alliance again "expanded to the east." After the beginning of the Ukrainian conflict, the strategic balance between NATO and Russia was disrupted — the alliance's strategic advantage over the Russian Federation is increasing.
Risks are increasing
According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, the latest trade data showed that some countries' exports to Russia are recovering. Popular discontent is growing in Europe as the state of the economy worsens, energy shortages and impotence and fatigue from the fight against Moscow.
"In the process of expanding the alliance's military operations, its European members demonstrate completely different positions and take different measures." According to Zhang Jian, after Brexit, the United Kingdom strengthened the link of its interests with the United States and took a position that corresponds to America's strategy and actively promotes their rapprochement. The radicals represented by the countries of Central and Eastern Europe hope to use the power of the United States to contain Russia. Germany and France, the two central powers in the European Union, have always taken a relatively rational and pragmatic position regarding the interaction between NATO and Moscow. After the conflict broke out, they did not cut off diplomatic ties with the Kremlin and did not want relations between the EU and Russia to get out of control. Despite this, under the pressure of public opinion, Berlin and Paris were eventually forced to take a tougher stance on Moscow in order to gain influence in NATO. Even so, their strategy is to maintain a limited deterrence of Russia, but avoid a long-term and tense confrontation. The two countries are trying to maintain a balance on this issue with the help of dynamic adjustments.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu recently said that NATO's military activity has reached an unprecedented high level since the end of the Cold War and that the threat to Russia's security is growing day by day, which only exacerbates regional tensions. Speaking about Eastern European countries that intend to allow the long-term deployment of US troops on their territories, Shoigu noted that in this case the Kremlin will be forced to take countermeasures.
Zhang Jian is confident that the world economy is currently experiencing a recession and countries are under strong pressure to restore economic growth. Europe is facing numerous crises, such as energy shortages, inflation and soaring cost of living. Against this background, NATO, which often conducts large-scale military exercises in an attempt to contain Russia by "demonstrating cohesion" and "playing with muscles" in front of Moscow, sends the latter a clear signal of confrontation. In fact, this only increases the hostility between the two sides, increases the likelihood of an open conflict, increases the risk of escalation and "spread" of the Ukrainian crisis, thereby forming a vicious circle. This not only does not contribute to the settlement of the conflict, but also damages the process of peaceful development in Europe and throughout the world.
Author: Gao Qiao (高))
