Libertarian Socialist Confederation

NATO is searching for new strategies, adapting itself to a multipolar situation, but more importantly, the threat of China along with Russia for the economic, technologic and militar supremacy of the USA. This will be the first time in 73 years the concept of “collective defense” will be defined. NATO is preparing for future wars for the hegemony in Eastern Europe and Eastern Asia, but not against “pariah states”, which have been its focus since the fall of the Berlin Wall, but against big powers. Russia will be classified as a “direct threat” and China as a “geoestrategic challenge” or “systemic challenge”. This is clearly the beginning of a new wave of an escalation of imperialist antagonism, leadered by a USA that doesn’t want to lose its position as main superpower.

The biggest military deployment since WWII in Europe, in NATO countries that border Ukraine, will be decided in this summit. Also, Biden and Pedro Sánchez (President of Spain) have announced an agreement to increase American military presence in Spain, adding two more destroyers to the base in Rota, with 6 in total. Another example of this escalation is how Washington has pressured NATO countries to increase the military budget to reach a 2% of their GDP. Spain, even before the summit, has already announced its compromise to do it. Arms industry is also tied to this, which has increased since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Spain is the seventh arms exporter, with benefits of 3,300 million euros in 2021. The USA, leader of the industry moving around half a million dollars, has announced its intention to send arms with a value of 1,000 million dollars to Ukraine.

The war in Ukraine is the first episode of a series of future confrontations of NATO and its main enemies, the first episode of a new Cold War. Like in old times, the European countries in NATO become a tool of the interests of Washington, not only in terms of defense, but in external affairs. And, of course, the interests of Europe are not even the ones as the ones of the USA. A good example of this is how the economic relations of Europe with Russia have been broken, which depends energetically on the latter. This situation has been used by the USA to sell gas from fracking to Europe, which is carried in ships, making the own price higher. More than a half of the gas used by Germany came from Russia, and if the Nord Stream II was opened, dependence would be complete. The war in Ukraine has sped up the re-alignment of Europe with the interests of Washington.

This may also be the beginning of an atomic arms race: Russia has decided to make investments on new nuclear missiles in order to renew its atomic capabilities. Of course, NATO has never had any intention to put an end to nuclear arms, with its members voting against a UN resolution in order to forbid them, thanks to a note from the American diplomacy distributed before it. This is another good example of the submission of NATO members to the interests of the USA. A survey in 2020 was carried in countries like Belgium, Denmark, Iceland, Italy, Netherlands and Spain, with a 75% of people in favour of the UN treaty against atomic weapons. So, yeah, this is may not be specially popular.

The summit would include military support for an allied country in case of a “threat to territorial integrity”, which may range from irregular inmigration to secessionist movements. Another matter will be “hybrid threats”, those that do not fit in traditional definitions of military phenomena: Cybernetic attacks, terrorism, massive leaks, fake news, disinformation campaigns or even food insecurity. This would prepare NATO to deal militarily with problems that have been normally dealt with through civil means, a militarization of everyday life.

I am not exactly a supporter of Russia or China systems and their interests, even though many think this thanks to the militaristic narrative spreaded by media in this side of the world. However, my opposition to NATO and the interests of the USA is clear, so today is the best moment to talk about what is NATO doing, specially if its decisions are being taken in my country.
This is clearly the beginning of an intensification of international antagonism, and we shouldn’t be seduced by those who want to keep ruling our class. The answer to this situation should be the opposition of the working class, who spills its blood in the battlefields for defending the interests of their rulers. Some may think that this is not WWI or the Cold War, but when the bombs are not being dropped in your country, your opinion may be distorted by the narrative of your ruling class.
Do not fall for this.