How much has NATO gone too far last week? The recent gathering of NATO members in Madrid has been for some a reckless provocation for a new Cold War right at the middle of an already turbulent 21st century. Why?
Obviously, Russia’s invasion in Ukraine was at the top of the agenda and not without a reason, since this new contemporary war has not only changed Europe for good but also showed how interconnected the world’s well-being is given that a war in Europe can make everybody poor no matter how far away from the war zone, due to energy prices soaring, inflation reaching 30 year old records and food stuffs being made scarcer. Clearly Russia’s war in Ukraine has been the product of Russian decision-making. What does China have anything to do with it though and why on earth NATO should officially declare China as a “challenge” for the next decade as if there are not enough peace disruptions in the world?
When a military alliance declares officially the world’s second biggest economy as a challenge, which is bigger in population than all NATO members put together, automatically kicks off the beginning of a Cold War, to begin with. Are we suddenly done with world peace and multilateralism and we are back to picking up swords? Have the NATO friends and their Asia-Pacific “guests of honor” lost their minds? Well, even Macron’s infamous statement back in 2019 that NATO is brain dead can’t really justify the alliance’s act. What can be suggested as a plausible explanation for NATO’s provocation towards China is that they believe that this could be an opportunity to expand in the Asia-Pacific with affiliates, franchisees or branches? Well, if that is the case, then the North Atlantic organization should change its name in the first place.
But NATO cannot just think as an American organization like Microsoft to expand sales in the Asia-Pacific, can it? This is still and always the turbulent year 2022 with wars, global financial meltdowns and food shortage, ain’t it? It doesn’t make sense to see this as an opportunity for more…wars and financial meltdowns, does it, for God’s sake?
Let’s try to connect the dots. Back in 2020, when the newbie European Commission took office and there was no war in Ukraine in the first place, the EU shockingly described China “a systemic rival”. Two years later and after a war of Russia in Ukraine the G7 countries promulgated a $600 billion plan to counter China’s Belt and Road, although they had all more or less benefited from it. Also, G7 accused China’s stance at the “East and South China Seas”. And a couple of days later, as if it was nicely planned, which it was, NATO came to officially name China as a challenge for the many years to come. The dot connection shows that the world had been trying to hurt China’s rise in global power already since 2020 when the freshman Commission called for the first time in 50 years of productive diplomatic ties the country a systemic rival, despite depending on its trade with the Asian giant in order to prosper.
Not unexpectedly, NATO’s Cold War declaration to China infuriated the Chinese side that is feeling more and more an unprovoked hostility by the West. Sure, China has its own domestic worries e.g. Taiwan but did China start the blame game with the West or declared unprovoked a Western country as challenge? What is NATO aiming for? To scare China, expand its military business in the Asia-Pacific or threaten global security and peace?
The most likely eventuality of the above can only be the latter, only that this is the world’s mere biggest accomplishment since World War II. The fact that NATO doesn’t seem to care for it anymore and starts a new Cold War with gigantic China is simply beyond comprehension.
Instead of the world trying to chill out, recuperate losses from the war in Ukraine and the financial and health systems’ catastrophe caused by the pandemic and so many other curses, the West goes back to zero sum games in the 21st century that can blow up global peace in less than a minute. When will NATO and the peer learn from rich human history, the atrocity of global war conflicts and the sheer vanity of human opportunism? Not quite soon seems to be the answer, sadly.
As regards the EU, despite having great trade and diplomacy benefits from global trade with players like China, the technocratic block of the Old Continent apparently doesn’t have what it takes these days to shape its own policy. They echo and then they echo some more Washington without any European scent and flavour whatsoever. How much will the EU prosper really if tomorrow its only trade partner becomes the US?
It shouldn’t come then as a surprise that we slowly but steadily enter a new age that cynically starts to repeat all over again the saddest parts of human history. Brain dead it is.
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