NATO is recomposed, the US wins with the change, by Ruth Ferrero-Turrión


A new episode opens in the midst of the war being waged in Ukraine. Once again we see how the Russian invasion impacts in all areas, the economy, energy, and now in security and defense policy. the NATO summit being held these days in Madrid will go down in history as the most important meeting of the Atlantic Alliance since the end of the Cold War, even more important than the one in which it was decided to extend it to the countries that were once part of of the Warsaw Pact.

During the 1990s, NATO had to reinvent itself, find new ways to be useful, and that is how it evolved from policies of deterrence to those of crisis management. It was at that time that she wanted to give herself the title of great defender of democracies, the golden age of Clinton and democratic peace. The wars in the Balkans date from that period, but, above all, the NATO bombing of Serbia without UN mandate and that gave rise to a principle, not yet recognized by international law, that of responsibility to protect, which collided with another, which was the right to non-interference. And all this breaking its own regulations and acting outside its area of ​​operations. At that time, no one overshadowed the American ‘hegemon’.

Already in 2001 and with the September 11 attacks was when it was appealed for the first time and after 73 years of existence the article 5 of the North Atlantic Charter which states that “the Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them, which takes place in Europe or North America, will be considered as an attack directed against all of them […]”. And that was how, in solidarity, the operations in Afghanistan and the invasion of Iraq. The “fight against terror” It was also done with the unquestionable support of what was then Putin’s Russia.

The forecast was that the Madrid summit would be a transition summit without much relevance that would try to make the failure in Afghanistan forget as quickly as possible and that it would put its greatest emphasis on issues related to human security with a focus on climate change issues. or issues related to feminist politics. However, the war in Ukraine has turned those procedural challenges that the transatlantic organization had ahead of it. Paraphrasing Macron, NATO has awakened from brain death, and not only that. Thanks to Putin’s testosterone, it has also given him a reason to continue, to strengthen himself militarily, to expand and to strengthen the North American leadership of the organization. Now the EU is just as or more dependent on Washington than it was during the post-war period, only now there is no ‘Marshall plan’ and Brussels pays for energy, supplies and military capabilities.

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The strategic concept to be debated in Madrid has to do with reinforcing what has been called the 360 degree strategy of NATO, to be ready in any geography and at all times to act in the face of any challenge that may arise. In this way, the aim is to reinforce the importance of NATO’s collective defense and deterrence, but also to incorporate new forms of hybrid warfare, as well as other collision spaces such as cyberspace. And all this to serve the strategic interests of the United States, which has its sights focused on the Indo-Pacific axis.

The EU, for its part, arrives broke, divided and without a clear geopolitical objective. The most Atlanticist will seek to further strengthen their positions in the company of the United Kingdom, appealing to discourses of democracies against non-democracies; the most reticent Atlanticists arrive very weakened and in some cases, like the German, also very pressured by their government partners. With these wicks it seems unlikely that they will be able to start a position that benefits, even a little, the European own interests, beyond empty speeches full of morality and false promises towards Ukraine.


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