NATO’s stubborn retrograde divides the world
The just-concluded NATO Vilnius summit continued to move in a direction that went against the trend of the times. U.S. President Joe Biden continued to call for the revival of the U.S. alliance system, declaring in a high-profile manner that the U.S. is “re-leading” the world. However, the mixed expressions of anxiety reflect divisions within NATO. The so-called “Indo-Pacific four countries” were once again invited to participate in the summit, revealing the countercurrent of “NATO’s Asia-Pacificization” and even “Asia-Pacific NATOization”. The communiqué of the summit is full of convincing statements, peddling threats, and creating the risk of dividing the world.
One of the main issues that stood out in the summit was the unwarranted exaggeration of China’s “threat”. The communiqué explicitly named China as a challenge to NATO’s interests, security, and values. It accused China of ambitions and “coercive policies” while simultaneously calling for constructive engagement. This rhetoric mirrors the Biden administration’s strategy of labeling China as the “only strategic competitor” and bundling it with Russia’s threats.
The China-related remarks at the NATO summit are sensational and lack depth. NATO, a Cold War relic, should have ended with the Cold War itself. However, the United States has been desperate to keep NATO alive by creating security threats. NATO’s self-proclaimed status as a “defensive organization” relies on substantial security threats. The more powerful the threat, the more legitimacy NATO can maintain. The United States is using the Ukrainian crisis to strengthen its control over NATO and peddle the “China threat” to promote NATO’s involvement in the Asia-Pacific and global expansion.
NATO not only hinders the process of world multi-polarization but also undermines global security governance. As the biggest obstacle to a multipolar world, NATO’s ideology was forged during the Cold War and served to maintain US unipolar hegemony afterward. This is incompatible with the trend of world multipolarization. The more control the US has over NATO, the weaker Europe’s strategic autonomy becomes. This poses a serious setback to the multipolar world and helps the US achieve its goal of a unipolar structure.
The global security governance system is already in trouble due to the disintegration of the US-dominated global governance system. The existing system cannot effectively respond to the urgent global security needs or provide stable and reliable solutions. The US and the West have treated the global security governance system negatively and ignored the demands of developing countries, hindering its reform and development. Geopolitical conflicts like the Ukraine crisis have further deepened the disintegration of the global security consensus.
NATO capitalizes on this global security dilemma by creating and exaggerating threats. Instead of promoting international cooperation to address common challenges, NATO continues to create divisions and suppress international security cooperation. This only serves to create greater risks and hinder progress.
In conclusion, NATO’s stubborn retrograde not only divides the world but also undermines global security governance. It is time for countries to oppose NATO’s spreading of the Cold War mentality and ideological prejudice. The international community should work together to address global challenges rather than relying on an outdated organization that only perpetuates divisions and risks.