Professor Li Qingsi gave a paper at the webinar, The Case Against NATO, on April 16, 2022, in which he examines why the continued existence, expansionist and aggressive agenda of NATO increasingly puts at risk regional as well as global peace and stability.
NATO jeopardizes regional and global peace and stability
1. It is undeniable that NATO played a role of strategic balance between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War and protected the security of Europe. However, as a product of the Cold War, the rival Warsaw Pact disbanded on July 1, 1991. For example, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India called for the dissolution of NATO, as there was no need for NATO to continue to exist.
2. The five rounds of expansion after 1991 intensified security tensions with Russia, triggered countermeasures, worsening European-Russian relations and the European security environment. Arguably, NATO expansion gave Russia credible grounds for military counterattacks or even expansion.
3. Even if it is not dissolved, the functions of NATO should be transformed from a military bloc to a low-political function, such as the humane prevention of refugee crises, humanitarian relief, the combating of various forms of transnational crime and even counter-terrorism.
4. However, contrary to the world’s expectations, NATO not only did not dissolve or transform non-military organizations, but has actively intervened in affairs outside the NATO region and was involved in military operations, such as the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, Libya, Syria, etc. and has brought disasters to these countries and regions with serious consequences.
5. What is more ambitious, is that after the end of the Cold War, the United States has been seeking to establish a so-called small NATO in Asia, and it is now promoting the Asianization of NATO, coupled with Quad and AUKUS, the purpose of which is to align NATO members and the United States with Asian allies to contain and encircle China and Russia. This constitutes a reversal of history!
6. The US NATO is raising neo-Nazi forces in Ukraine, which makes people shudder! These anti-human organizations have slaughtered tens of thousands of Ukrainian people, and there are many underground factories doing all kinds of malevolent things. Those who play with fire will burn themselves. Since the Ukrainian Nazis already kill Ukrainians, ultimately even the US NATO will not be immune from its violence. .
7. We must oppose the action plan of the world’s deep state
The continued expansion of NATO is extremely harmful
1. Kidnapping Europe, Europe is not so much protected by the United States as harmed by it. Even if defense expenditure is increased, it can only strengthen the status of the United States and has little relationship to Europe’s own independent defense and diplomacy. NATO has effectively become a chain for the United States to control Europe.
2. Driving a wedge between Russia and Europe. As soon as Nord Stream 2 was completed, the Biden administration of the United States hyped Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Russian-Ukrainian conflict broke out, and the relationship between Europe and Russia, which was kidnapped by NATO was in trouble, resulting in the stalling of the hitherto mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation between Russia and Europe. The United States has bought Russian oil and sold it to Europe at a high price.
3. What has been happening since the Cold War, especially in the past 20 years, and the post-war situation in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, shows that the idea of NATO trying to solve international problems by force is wrong and can only bring disaster to the countries concerned. They have exposed the US’s true face to the world.
4. Maybe only the United States benefits. However, the world is not owned by the United States. It is impossible to sacrifice others for the interests of the United States forever. The world has been exploited enough by the United States. And the United States has never been reliable. At a critical moment in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the United States refused to participate in the war, once again proving that Ukraine cannot count on the United States.
5. Unrestricted government power of a country will lead to abuse of power in that country; if the power of a country or group in the world is not restricted, it will be abused in the world. The United States promotes the expansion and upgrading of NATO and seeks so-called absolute security, but that only leads to absolute insecurity of the world. It will surely promote the formation and growth of counter-forces and groups, and eventually boomerang on the United States itself. The 20-year war in Afghanistan has shown that only a few people, such as military-industrial interest groups, benefited, but every American taxpayer has paid the price!
In short, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage, the economic development of various countries has come to a standstill, and the world is facing accelerated changes, unseen for a century. Countries that try to beat, crush or supress their rivals will not only fail to solve their rivals’ problems, they may find themselves facing increasingly difficult problems of their own. In international politics, only by giving up the interests of tiny elites, forsaking the idea of putting their selfish interests above that of the citizens of every other country in the world, abandoning the fantasy of defeating opponents through a New Cold War, and positioning our countries as embers of a community with a shared future for mankind, can we achieve better results. It is through understanding and the support of others that we will ultimately be able to solve our own problems.
***
Professor Li Qingsi has been teaching at the School of International Studies, Renmin University of China. He became a lecturer in 1993, an associate professor in 2002, and a professor in 2009. From the end of 1994 to 1995, he went to the University of Kent for advanced studies in the United Kingdom. From May 1998 to June 1999, he gave lectures at the Institute of International Relations at the University of Denver in the United States. From 2004 to 2005, he participated in the U.S. Congress as China with the Fulbright Project Fund. The first person in the research project worked for a year in the office of a US Congressman. During this period, in September 2004, he was invited to participate in all the activities of the China Observation Mission in the Washington area of the U.S. election delegation and gained a deeper understanding and understanding of the U.S. election system.
