wsws.org/en/articles/2025/06/2โฆ
Nato summit in The Hague: a milestone on the way to a third world war
The worldโs largest military alliance has agreed to increase military spending from 2 percent to 5 percent of the GDP. This places bitter class struggles and social spending cuts on the agenda.World Socialist Web Site
Gerrit Venema ๐ช๐บ๐๐
in reply to Michael • • •I can feel some concurrence of opinion with this article.
I do feel that the over the top rearmament figures the NATO now officially commits itself to (largely for internal propaganda reasons), provides Russia with a very convenient cover to stay in war economy, which itself necessarily will mean further conflict with NATO and a lot of opportunity for war to ensue.
However the assertion that NATO caused the Ukrainian war. I do not support that.
Gerrit Venema ๐ช๐บ๐๐
in reply to Gerrit Venema ๐ช๐บ๐๐ • • •While NATO has been absolutely instrumental in upholding US hegemony, they were not threatening to Russia outside the Balkan in any way. The threat was mostly to unaligned parties and Muslim countries.
Sweden and Finland were not even part of NATO and there was no standing NATO army anywhere within the Baltics. Also Turkey was even a Russian client. And the US only provided some handweapons to Ukraine. Nothing really in light of what arms they could export.
Gerrit Venema ๐ช๐บ๐๐
in reply to Gerrit Venema ๐ช๐บ๐๐ • • •The US and Europe stayed almost entirely out of the de facto Russian occupation of Eastern Ukraine. Just asking for some restraint and even delivering an enormous amount of military technology to Russia all that time.
The reason of the war in Ukraine is all on the revanchist trajectory that Russia has fallen into after rejection of democracy. Even dissolving NATO would not have changed anything, except maybe for Russia to achieve domination of Ukraine a fraction earlier.
Gerrit Venema ๐ช๐บ๐๐
in reply to Gerrit Venema ๐ช๐บ๐๐ • • •Having said that, I do believe that the EU countries should abandon NATO and create their own defense alliance. Because NATO was maybe always very much about US interests, but lately it has has become 99.999% in US interests only.
Keeping yourself attached to this MAGA US as European countries is very harmful.
I do support a moderate increase in military spending but only if it doesn't involve the US in any way. And the 5% goal is ludicrously extravagant and war inducing.
Michael
in reply to Gerrit Venema ๐ช๐บ๐๐ • • •