June 29, 2022 10:46 am
They are very unusual invited for a NATO summit. Some leaders of the countries of the Asia-Pacific region – Japan, South Korea and New Zealand – are present in Madrid for a summit of what is still called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It is useless to look for complex explanations. The answer has only one name: China.
Despite the urgency of the Ukrainian crisis and the extent of the response to be given to the war unleashed by Russia, in fact, the United States never loses sight of its obsession: to “contain” China, which they believe to be the real threat from the twenty-first century. At the Madrid Summit, in the presence of Joe Biden, China will never be far away.
On the eve of the summit, the issue was the subject of debate in view of the drafting of the new strategic concept which will be submitted for approval by the thirty states of the Alliance. Some Europeans, France in the lead, want to avoid NATO being incorporated into the American strategy with respect to Beijing.
The Asian branch
China will enter this final NATO document, but as a “challenge” and not as a “threat”. Nuances matter.
On Washington’s part there is no explicit desire to extend NATO to Asia, but the United States is reproducing (without saying it) the alliance strategy followed during the Cold War against the USSR. Aukus, Quad, Ipef, Pgi: these are all acronyms that correspond to military, political or economic structures concerning China.
It is the situation that Europeans hoped to avoid: being engaged on two fronts, Russia now appears to them as the main threat
NATO does not have the vocation to intervene in Asia, but the United States is pursuing a global strategy against China in which the Atlantic Alliance must play a role. China is aware of this, so much so that it continues to accuse NATO (as it did on June 28) of wanting to “poison world peace”. According to Beijing, Washington is trying to create an “Asian branch” of the Alliance, already considered by Chinese leaders to be the cause of the conflict in Ukraine.
It is the situation that Europeans were hoping to avoid: being engaged on two fronts simultaneously at a time when Russia appears to them as the main threat in the world.
Indeed, NATO already has enough work to do in Europe. A very ambitious plan will be announced in Madrid to bring the total number of rapid response forces that can be mobilized on the continent from 40,000 to 300,000. It is a huge leap for which the European armies are far from ready.
But the United States is a global power that must face the double challenge launched by Moscow and Beijing, intent on subverting the international order. Europeans, for their part, are above all concerned about Russia, which has returned to being a military threat, while China, further away, is simply defined as a rival, a competitor or even a partner, depending on the context.
This debate takes place behind the scenes more than in public, especially considering that events in Ukraine are evidently taking over. The statement released on June 28 by the Russian spokesman that the war will not end before the Ukrainians surrender is a provocative message addressed to NATO. At this moment, therefore, it is necessary to rediscover unity in the face of a threat that shows no signs of weakening.
(Translation by Andrea Sparacino)