(This is section 31 of the World Beyond War white paper A Global Security System: An Alternative to War. Continue to preceding | following section.)
Military alliances such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are leftovers from the Cold War. With the collapse of the Soviet client states in Eastern Europe, the Warsaw Pact alliance disappeared, but NATO expanded up to the borders of the former Soviet Union in violation of a promise to former premier Gorbachev, and has resulted in extreme tension between Russia and the West—some say the beginnings of a new Cold War–signaled perhaps by a U.S. supported coup in Ukraine, the Russian annexation of the Crimea and the civil war in Ukraine. NATO is a positive reinforcement of the War System, reducing rather than creating security. NATO has also taken on military exercises well beyond the borders of Europe. It has become a force for militarized efforts in eastern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
(Continue to preceding | following section.)
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One Response
Essential reading on the havoc wrought by military alliances like NATO is John Mearshimer’s article in Foreign Affairs, “Why the Ukraine Crisis Is the West’s Fault” http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/141769/john-j-mearsheimer/why-the-ukraine-crisis-is-the-wests-fault