“What we need is peace, not NATO”, Sevim Dagdelen, a member of the German Bundestag, stressed in a recent video that went viral on the Internet.
In the video, she noted that the so-called NATO is a defensive alliance, NATO is an alliance of democracies promoting the rule of law, and NATO defending human rights are three myths peddled by the military alliance NATO.
Is the Cold War-born NATO an alliance or an enemy of peace?
Evolving from a defense alliance to a tool of US hegemony
The leaders of Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, and New Zealand joined NATO’s Vilnius Summit this July. This is the second time that NATO has invited the heads of state and governments of the four Asia-Pacific countries to attend the alliance’s summit after the Madrid Summit last year.
In a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the move was because NATO’s security was not regional but global.
French President Emmanuel Macron described NATO’s eastward expansion as brain-dead. He emphasized that NATO’s power should be restricted to the North Atlantic region as the North Atlantic Treaty defines and that such geographical expansion could shift the alliance’s remit too far from its original North Atlantic focus.
Article 5 and 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty
NATO has long meddled in other countries’ and regions’ affairs, which is beyond its mandate. Especially in recent years, NATO has increasingly flexed its muscles in the Asia-Pacific region.
In 2021, NATO presented the NATO 2030 agenda to reaffirm the bloc’s values and to demonstrate solidarity. The ambitious agenda revised NATO’s strategic concept and turned the main focus to great major power competition. NATO leaders also agreed on more engagement in global affairs especially in the Indo-Pacific.
In June 2022, the leaders of Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and the ROK were invited to join the annual NATO summit for the first time has marked an unprecedented level of engagement and interest from Asian partners in the European theater, commended National Security Council Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell.”
On January 31, 2023, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stressed that trans-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security are deeply interconnected during a visit to Tokyo. Later in May, both Jens Stoltenberg and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that NATO was planning to set up a liaison office in Tokyo in 2024 and would use it as a hub for cooperation with Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and the ROK. The NATO office, the first of its kind in Asia, will serve to enable discussions with NATO’s security partners, such as the ROK, Australia, and New Zealand.
The attempt to open a NATO office in Japan has been widely criticized by the international community. According to the ROK media OhmyNews, on June 22, people gathered near the Blue House in Seoul to protest against President Yoon Suk Yeol’s attendance at the Vilnius Summit and NATO’s expansion in the Asia-Pacific region.
A similar protest was provoked in the streets of Tokyo when Fumio Kishida was attending the Summit. People at the demonstrations saw NATO as a military alliance whose member countries have always been involved in wars. After several rounds of discussion, the NATO Summit finally deleted the words about the establishment of the office from the communique.
“NATO was a product of the Cold War. So, since the demise of the Soviet Union, there has been no need for any expansion”, Jerry Grey, Australian media commentator, told GDToday. He added, that NATO has changed its role from a defensive alliance to a tool of American hegemony. Moreover, NATO’s expansion in the Asia-Pacific region has served as the tip of the spear for US-led oppression and regime change.
However, when this alliance expands into the Asia-Pacific region, “it is a sign of a real decline of the bloc”, said Cui Tiankai, former Chinese ambassador to the US at the 11th World Peace Forum, on July 3, 2023.
Increasing military expenditure leaves the world insecure and unstable
NATO has remained active in non-North Atlantic regional affairs for over 30 years since the end of the Cold War and expanded its reach to the Kosovo War, Afghanistan War, Iraq War, Libyan War, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, as well as the so-called “Indo-Pacific region”.
Taking the example of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, since February 24, 2022, Ukraine has received weapons and military equipment worth billions of dollars from at least 28 countries, with 25 of these countries being NATO members.
Countries arming Ukraine (source: Castellum.AI)
Among those countries, the United States is the largest provider of military assistance to Ukraine.
Since the Biden administration took office, the US has committed to providing 42 billion USD in military aid to Ukraine. Of this amount, 41.3 billion USD in assistance has been delivered since February 2022. In comparison, from 2022 to 2023, the US has only donated 1.5 billion USD to the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund (PBF). Additionally, there are currently 100,000 US soldiers based in Europe, the highest number since the end of the Cold War with a steady growth since 2014.
NATO's Defense Investment Pledge, which took effect in 2014, called on all member countries to halt defense budget cuts and offered a guideline on allocating 2 percent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to defense within a decade. This guideline was further emphasized at the NATO Summit in Vilnius.
According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out, at least 15 European countries have announced plans to increase military expenditure.
Announced extra military spending of EU countries since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict (source: Transnational Institute（TNI）)
Taking Germany as an example, on February 27, 2022, just three days after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that Germany's defense budget would be increased to over 2 percent of GDP, exceeding 4 trillion USD, and a one-time special fund of 100 billion Euro would be established for its armed forces over the next few years.
Meanwhile, 1 billion Euro earmarked for bonuses for healthcare workers faced delays and did not receive government approval until the third year of the pandemic. The announcement of the 100 billion Euro special fund for the armed forces led to protests in several German cities, with people protesting that there are a billion better ideas to use the money for, including investing in healthcare and addressing the climate crisis.
Jerry Grey believes that NATO's requirement for defense budgets to reach 2 percent of GDP serves two purposes: One is to keep income flowing to primarily US military manufacturers and the other is to ensure there is enough capacity to invade or attack because 2 percent is not needed to defend.
Following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the market value of Raytheon Technologies, a US defense contractor, soared from 128 billion USD at the beginning of 2022 to 148 billion USD by the end of the year. The total earnings were 7.3 billion USD, representing a growth of 16.19 pencent compared to 2021. Another defense giant, Lockheed Martin, had a market value of 98 billion USD at the beginning of 2022, which reached 127 billion USD by the end of the year, marking the highest record ever.
The changes in market value of US defense contractors before and after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict
The Transnational Institute (TNI) report highlights that significant funds that could have been invested in social services, countering climate change, and other areas are instead being allocated to research, development, and procurement of weapons. This model not only lines the pockets of the elite but also keeps the vast majority of humanity on this planet surrounded by continuous insecurity and instability.
Co-presented by GDToday and the School of Journalism and Communication, Jinan University
Author: Lin Huixian (Intern), Xu Yuqin (Intern), Wang Baoping
Editor: Wing Zhang, Steven Yuen, Rofel Ding, Jerry
