It would've been nice for everyone if the West had laid NATO to rest when the Cold War ended. But no. They revived it as a zombie to harass and terrify countries across the globe. Now spent, it's a rotting corpse just staggering around, purposeless. It will not have a dignified ending.
Of course realist. No one ever can explain what it is that Germany and the pathetic UK possess that Russia so desperately needs to conquer, risking WW III in the process.
Let the Red-Green alliance push to pauperize the masses in the EU for aggressive war. The population will be inviting in the Russians to restore some sanity.
I think that there is a real threat to Europe from Russia. It’s just that the Germans, French, English, Spanish, Italians, etc. think that US do the fighting and funding for them, so that they can continue to play idiotic socialist games.
Russia doesn't possess the ideology that would allow to integrate it's non-orthodox Slavic neighbors into an empire. This is different from reintegrating Novorossiya that was never was really Ukrainian into Russia. And if you look at the probable next NY mayor, the West is fragmenting all by itself.
Russia is possessed of the Communist ideology which seeks to rule the world because they claim that world communism is a historical imperative. They must destroy capitalism everywhere least it demonstrates the failures and flaws of communism. Dressing this up in Russian nationalism does not change its essential nature.
And the guy who runs the place is a devout Communist who considers the fall of the USSR the greatest tragedy to have ever occurred. He is attempting to reestablish the USSR / Russian Empire. Which is why he has troops in Belorussia and operatives in Moldova. It is also why the Poles, Lavtians, Lithuanians, Estonians, Finns & Swedes have joined NATO.
Well the guy who runs Russia is a devout Communist and a former KGB operative. He considers the fall of the USSR / Russian Empire the greatest tragedy to happen to his country ever. He finds “Russian nationalism” a good cover or his attempts to reinstate the USSR/Russian Empire. The Poles, Finns, Swedes and Baltic Republics all joined NATO as a result of this revanchist activity by Putin.
No amount of money will turn europeans, the biggest wimps on the planet, guys who make Richard Simmons look like Audie Murphy by comparison, into soldiers. There is a reason that army recruiters do not cruise old folks homes for geriatric metrosexuals, hoping to snap up the prime candidates before someone else gets them.
This is understood. The point is to show the Americans what deserving little poodles they are, in hope that the United States will fight Russia for them.
Great facetious comparison 'No amount of money will turn europeans, the biggest wimps on the planet, guys who make Richard Simmons look like Audie Murphy by comparison, into soldiers.'
Someone should point out to the little Baltic statelets that the US Senate only agreed to ratify the North Atlantic Treaty after SoS Dean Acheson provided a written assurance that Article 5 did not commit the United States to military action in support of a NATO member state subject to attack by a third party.
Or they could just consult the NATO Website which says the same thing.
The purpose for which NATO was created expired in 1990 when the communist bloc disappeared. That was when its true intention became clear: to protect the privileges of the Western Christian-bourgeois capitalist bloc.
The 5% increase in the military expenditure of the member countries shows that the partners are in ruins and that without money you cannot win a war. I would say more: without industries you cannot win a war and these are outside the NATO countries.
What NATO cannot solve with money is who is going to fight for it because the Western masses are not in favor of going to war. They would pay for someone to go fight for them, but there is not enough money and a mercenary is not a good fighter.
Western capitalism is very fragile: it is enough that a few ballistic missiles leave it without electricity for a few days and the looting in the cities is terrifying, since there would be no cameras to watch and control them. NATO's opponents do not have to drop bombs on military bases or on cities, there is no need to kill them, they only need to cut off their electric power for a few days. When the blackout in Spain in April of this year everything I say was demonstrated...and that in some places it was only about 3 hours and everything happened at night. But the police already had orders to implement martial law if the blackout lasted a day.
So without industries NATO has nothing to do, its fate is therefore sealed.
I don't even know what Stephen sees as "threats" that make the "Kremlin nervous" when the words "worry about your own security" (European) appear in the lines of this post. Perhaps the EU, NATO, and the United States are more nervous and concerned about energy, industry, and resources than the Kremlin? The problem isn't even about "compensating and replenishing" the Western weapons destroyed in Ukraine (forget about the NATO "vacationers" sent back in coffins). Or in the "lack" of money for the "successful promotion" of Ukrainians. The banal shortage and high cost of electricity in Europe will not allow manufacturing industries to immediately rise and start producing anything in large quantities (except for manicure kits)! We can talk endlessly about some desires to "achieve something with the help of 2029(2030...2054...2079) ", but global economic uncertainty simply does not allow for the implementation of the "planned" (how many times has this been mentioned?). I don't rule out that the Kremlin may "welcome" all the decisions of this NATO summit (and subsequent ones), even if they go beyond the usual rhetoric and help move the cause forward. After all, the people of Europe will have to pay for it and make unnecessary sacrifices. Russia is less likely to contribute to the collapse of NATO and the entire European Union than foolish European bureaucrats who can't back down in time.
The Nato cretins continue to send what tat they have left to the green goblin(who looks like the coke isn’t working anymore , based on videos from the summit), so Russia can recycle it into scrap.
Their news conference looked like a paupers funeral.
These prattling zombies continue to destroy their own countries economies and defence for a completely idiotic lost cause.
Then there is their support for the Zionists to add moral bankruptcy to economic and defence bankruptcy.
Roll on to the multi polar world and chuck these idiots on the scrap heap of history.
How insane. 5% of GDP! equals half of Germany's or Canada's annual budget. Can you imagine? Either they will load of a lot of debt or they will cut social spendings. How else would you finance this insanity? If they cut social spendings and we'll fare programs, people in Europe will vote far right. Then politicians will blame Russia again for all their insanity. Reasoning had long left the Western world.
This NATO commitment is proformative and therefore countries can dodge what they promised. 2029 means that Trump will be an ex-President and there will be a new one that starts the whole process again, or there may be a new policy emanating from Washington that make it redundant. Furthermore, some of the European politicians know that they themselves will be either out of politics or another regime in power in their country which may repudiate this newly committed policy. I think this is accepted as reality within the bowls of the US State and hence this makes the continued US demands equally proformative.
The real reason for the 5% promise is to keep the Man-Child happy and not ruin the conference by him throwing a tantrum and/or leaving early. Experience has shown that by showing a shiney baubble to Trump and agreeing to what he wants keeps him engaged. Given the record of Washington and this Administration, there will be little follow up, little engagement to keep the Europeans on track and little attention paid as the Administration focus is pulled away elsewhere in the world.
Incidently, some of the comments on the European Defence Industries in this article also apply in many ways to the US Defence Industries as well. Yes they might be a bit more advanced in some cases, but equally they suffer also from outmoded underproduction and are prohibitively expensive and complicated. Moreover, and not mentioned, the European and US products come with limiting political strings attached as to how the equipment can be used in allied nations.
The last thing we need is a renewed arms race. NATO is heading in exactly the wrong direction in hopes of justifying its Ukrainian folly. Long after Ukraine has been lost, there will be a bunch of useless weapons in Europe in a best case scenario.
To start off: The only real security threats to the Eu come from within; namely, invasion of refugees from US Forever Wars. These invasions, which are welcomed by employers and stooge governments are tearing these countries apart. A fresh load of migrants can soon be expected from Iran. The happy news is that the more Red-Green governments impose threats on the population, the faster they'll be forced out of office in favor of the likes of the AfD.
Russia poses no invasion threat. I always ask what Germany and the UK have that Russia would risk fighting a nuclear WW III? No one has an answer. Of course, if the EU/NATO wants to start something, then, yeah, they better be prepared to be turned into cinders.
"This sort of NATO target does not require unanimous agreement because it isn't mandatory. That means each NATO member will try to reach the goal, or not at all in the case of Spain, but there is no penalty if they do not."
Really? Are you sure?:
🇺🇸🇪🇸The United States will force Spain to accept an unfavorable bilateral trade deal for Madrid's refusal to increase NATO military spending to 5% of GDP, Trump said.
The US is unhappy because its stand undermines President Trump's goal of NATO spending 5% on defense. That does not change the fact that the targets are voluntary, not mandatory. If it were otherwise, NATO would have to "punish" the multiple offenders who consistently failed to meet even the 2% target. This is theater, not reality.
With all the warmongering from the West, perhaps Prigozhin was right after all. Perhaps, Putin should have taken the gloves off a long time ago and finish Ukraine off. If the West has an issue and keeps behaving like this, it may be time to cause another wave of migration and let Europe go down the gutter. Putin is simply too reasonable and some say soft.
It would've been nice for everyone if the West had laid NATO to rest when the Cold War ended. But no. They revived it as a zombie to harass and terrify countries across the globe. Now spent, it's a rotting corpse just staggering around, purposeless. It will not have a dignified ending.
NATO is simply a costume designed to disguise US hegemony as "The Alliance of the Good Guys". It is not a credible military alliance.
William Ward
Europeans like being slaves.
"Europeans like being slaves."
Indeed, they readily accept subjugation.
A dog may fear Master's blows, but more than any punishment, the dog fears that Master will abandon them.
A european is very similar.
Well said.
The idea that NATO countries are under threat from Russia is a ruse to boost the wealth of the rapacious megalomaniacs.
Of course realist. No one ever can explain what it is that Germany and the pathetic UK possess that Russia so desperately needs to conquer, risking WW III in the process.
Let the Red-Green alliance push to pauperize the masses in the EU for aggressive war. The population will be inviting in the Russians to restore some sanity.
I think that there is a real threat to Europe from Russia. It’s just that the Germans, French, English, Spanish, Italians, etc. think that US do the fighting and funding for them, so that they can continue to play idiotic socialist games.
Russia doesn't possess the ideology that would allow to integrate it's non-orthodox Slavic neighbors into an empire. This is different from reintegrating Novorossiya that was never was really Ukrainian into Russia. And if you look at the probable next NY mayor, the West is fragmenting all by itself.
Russia is possessed of the Communist ideology which seeks to rule the world because they claim that world communism is a historical imperative. They must destroy capitalism everywhere least it demonstrates the failures and flaws of communism. Dressing this up in Russian nationalism does not change its essential nature.
You're thinking of the USSR. That country dissolved in 1991. Russia, today, is a very different place.
And the guy who runs the place is a devout Communist who considers the fall of the USSR the greatest tragedy to have ever occurred. He is attempting to reestablish the USSR / Russian Empire. Which is why he has troops in Belorussia and operatives in Moldova. It is also why the Poles, Lavtians, Lithuanians, Estonians, Finns & Swedes have joined NATO.
And you know that how? Western Media? I've worked and vacationed in Russia. It is NOT communist and Putin is very pupular.
You are either ignorant or a troll.
Communism is very different from Russian nationalism or Hungarian nationalism or Israeli nationalism.
Well the guy who runs Russia is a devout Communist and a former KGB operative. He considers the fall of the USSR / Russian Empire the greatest tragedy to happen to his country ever. He finds “Russian nationalism” a good cover or his attempts to reinstate the USSR/Russian Empire. The Poles, Finns, Swedes and Baltic Republics all joined NATO as a result of this revanchist activity by Putin.
I adamantly disagree.
No amount of money will turn europeans, the biggest wimps on the planet, guys who make Richard Simmons look like Audie Murphy by comparison, into soldiers. There is a reason that army recruiters do not cruise old folks homes for geriatric metrosexuals, hoping to snap up the prime candidates before someone else gets them.
This is understood. The point is to show the Americans what deserving little poodles they are, in hope that the United States will fight Russia for them.
Yes, plus plenty of wealth to be made.
Great facetious comparison 'No amount of money will turn europeans, the biggest wimps on the planet, guys who make Richard Simmons look like Audie Murphy by comparison, into soldiers.'
Some historian said about the Austro-Hungarian soldiers who were savaged in Serbia in 1914-15 "these were men who had always slept in beds..."
Someone should point out to the little Baltic statelets that the US Senate only agreed to ratify the North Atlantic Treaty after SoS Dean Acheson provided a written assurance that Article 5 did not commit the United States to military action in support of a NATO member state subject to attack by a third party.
Or they could just consult the NATO Website which says the same thing.
The Baltic poodles and everyone else knows that the NATO Treaty means whatever the Americans say it means at any given moment. No more, no less.
The purpose for which NATO was created expired in 1990 when the communist bloc disappeared. That was when its true intention became clear: to protect the privileges of the Western Christian-bourgeois capitalist bloc.
The 5% increase in the military expenditure of the member countries shows that the partners are in ruins and that without money you cannot win a war. I would say more: without industries you cannot win a war and these are outside the NATO countries.
What NATO cannot solve with money is who is going to fight for it because the Western masses are not in favor of going to war. They would pay for someone to go fight for them, but there is not enough money and a mercenary is not a good fighter.
Western capitalism is very fragile: it is enough that a few ballistic missiles leave it without electricity for a few days and the looting in the cities is terrifying, since there would be no cameras to watch and control them. NATO's opponents do not have to drop bombs on military bases or on cities, there is no need to kill them, they only need to cut off their electric power for a few days. When the blackout in Spain in April of this year everything I say was demonstrated...and that in some places it was only about 3 hours and everything happened at night. But the police already had orders to implement martial law if the blackout lasted a day.
So without industries NATO has nothing to do, its fate is therefore sealed.
I don't even know what Stephen sees as "threats" that make the "Kremlin nervous" when the words "worry about your own security" (European) appear in the lines of this post. Perhaps the EU, NATO, and the United States are more nervous and concerned about energy, industry, and resources than the Kremlin? The problem isn't even about "compensating and replenishing" the Western weapons destroyed in Ukraine (forget about the NATO "vacationers" sent back in coffins). Or in the "lack" of money for the "successful promotion" of Ukrainians. The banal shortage and high cost of electricity in Europe will not allow manufacturing industries to immediately rise and start producing anything in large quantities (except for manicure kits)! We can talk endlessly about some desires to "achieve something with the help of 2029(2030...2054...2079) ", but global economic uncertainty simply does not allow for the implementation of the "planned" (how many times has this been mentioned?). I don't rule out that the Kremlin may "welcome" all the decisions of this NATO summit (and subsequent ones), even if they go beyond the usual rhetoric and help move the cause forward. After all, the people of Europe will have to pay for it and make unnecessary sacrifices. Russia is less likely to contribute to the collapse of NATO and the entire European Union than foolish European bureaucrats who can't back down in time.
The Nato cretins continue to send what tat they have left to the green goblin(who looks like the coke isn’t working anymore , based on videos from the summit), so Russia can recycle it into scrap.
Their news conference looked like a paupers funeral.
These prattling zombies continue to destroy their own countries economies and defence for a completely idiotic lost cause.
Then there is their support for the Zionists to add moral bankruptcy to economic and defence bankruptcy.
Roll on to the multi polar world and chuck these idiots on the scrap heap of history.
How insane. 5% of GDP! equals half of Germany's or Canada's annual budget. Can you imagine? Either they will load of a lot of debt or they will cut social spendings. How else would you finance this insanity? If they cut social spendings and we'll fare programs, people in Europe will vote far right. Then politicians will blame Russia again for all their insanity. Reasoning had long left the Western world.
I never understood how Afghanistan was in the North Atlantic.
This NATO commitment is proformative and therefore countries can dodge what they promised. 2029 means that Trump will be an ex-President and there will be a new one that starts the whole process again, or there may be a new policy emanating from Washington that make it redundant. Furthermore, some of the European politicians know that they themselves will be either out of politics or another regime in power in their country which may repudiate this newly committed policy. I think this is accepted as reality within the bowls of the US State and hence this makes the continued US demands equally proformative.
The real reason for the 5% promise is to keep the Man-Child happy and not ruin the conference by him throwing a tantrum and/or leaving early. Experience has shown that by showing a shiney baubble to Trump and agreeing to what he wants keeps him engaged. Given the record of Washington and this Administration, there will be little follow up, little engagement to keep the Europeans on track and little attention paid as the Administration focus is pulled away elsewhere in the world.
Incidently, some of the comments on the European Defence Industries in this article also apply in many ways to the US Defence Industries as well. Yes they might be a bit more advanced in some cases, but equally they suffer also from outmoded underproduction and are prohibitively expensive and complicated. Moreover, and not mentioned, the European and US products come with limiting political strings attached as to how the equipment can be used in allied nations.
The last thing we need is a renewed arms race. NATO is heading in exactly the wrong direction in hopes of justifying its Ukrainian folly. Long after Ukraine has been lost, there will be a bunch of useless weapons in Europe in a best case scenario.
"They may seem useless to intelligent people, but they will have made the avaricious pathological egotists much wealthier.
To start off: The only real security threats to the Eu come from within; namely, invasion of refugees from US Forever Wars. These invasions, which are welcomed by employers and stooge governments are tearing these countries apart. A fresh load of migrants can soon be expected from Iran. The happy news is that the more Red-Green governments impose threats on the population, the faster they'll be forced out of office in favor of the likes of the AfD.
Russia poses no invasion threat. I always ask what Germany and the UK have that Russia would risk fighting a nuclear WW III? No one has an answer. Of course, if the EU/NATO wants to start something, then, yeah, they better be prepared to be turned into cinders.
"This sort of NATO target does not require unanimous agreement because it isn't mandatory. That means each NATO member will try to reach the goal, or not at all in the case of Spain, but there is no penalty if they do not."
Really? Are you sure?:
🇺🇸🇪🇸The United States will force Spain to accept an unfavorable bilateral trade deal for Madrid's refusal to increase NATO military spending to 5% of GDP, Trump said.
Complete freedom and democracy.
Source TASS
The US is unhappy because its stand undermines President Trump's goal of NATO spending 5% on defense. That does not change the fact that the targets are voluntary, not mandatory. If it were otherwise, NATO would have to "punish" the multiple offenders who consistently failed to meet even the 2% target. This is theater, not reality.
NATO should have been abandoned decades ago.
With all the warmongering from the West, perhaps Prigozhin was right after all. Perhaps, Putin should have taken the gloves off a long time ago and finish Ukraine off. If the West has an issue and keeps behaving like this, it may be time to cause another wave of migration and let Europe go down the gutter. Putin is simply too reasonable and some say soft.
Great article Stephen!