PETER KOENIG—If democracy would be democracy, and the people of Europe would be asked about their allegiance to NATO, the overwhelming majority, an average close to 70% would say they want OUT of NATO. In some countries, like Italy, this percentage is possibly in excess of 80%.
SCOTT RITTER—When the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was founded some 75 years ago, its first secretary-general, Lord Ismay, famously noted that the purpose of the treaty alliance was “to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.” NATO’s mission was to secure peace in Europe, promote cooperation among its members and guard their freedom by countering the threat posed by the Soviet Union at the time. This latter point was critical—by signing onto NATO, the United States agreed to accept the leadership of a burgeoning resistance to ostensible Soviet aggression and subversion transpiring in Europe in the aftermath of World War II. But since the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991, NATO has been an organization in search of a mission.
TERJE MALOY—Jens Stoltenberg (60), figurehead leader of NATO, the scofflaw military alliance posing an imminent and continuous threat to world peace – and thanks to his continuous push for increased armaments spending, the social welfare of the member states’ populations – was at it again, reading a long string of fibs from speech notes prepared by his masters in the dark corridors of Washington’s military-industrial complex.
The EU motion‘s real purpose is to fabricate the war’s history by giving credit to the United States for the liberation of Europe while absolving the Western democracies that opened the door for the rise of fascism and tried to use Germany to annihilate the USSR. History itself should always be open to debate and subject to study and revision, but the Atlanticists have made this formal change without any evidence to support it and entirely for political purposes.
Pushback with Aaron Maté Stephen F. Cohen argues that cracks are emerging within the NATO-led consensus that has pushed Moscow from the West. Guest: Stephen F. Cohen, professor emeritus of Russian studies at New York University and Princeton University, contributing editor at The Nation, and author of several “War with Russia: From Putin & Ukraine to Trump & Russiagate.”