On Friday, May 19, nine new nations banded together to ask NATO to invite
them for membership in 2002. These Central and Eastern European countries,
several of which are former Soviet republics, have an obvious agenda that
would be very dangerous to the present balance of power.
I have been worried about the military activism of NATO for some time now, but the inclusion of these new countries (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Albania, and Macedonia) would be an obvious play for military dominance unequaled since the days of imperialism and would threaten the stability of not only the region, but probably of
the world.
After the recent inclusion of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, NATO already includes 19 countries. Increasing that number to 28 is unnecessary and a direct threat to Russia, since it would include virtually every country in Europe except Russia and some of its former republics.
NATO was established to prevent aggression by the Soviet Union into Western Europe and the Mediterranean. With the cessation of the cold war, the organization itself is no longer really necessary. In order to prolong its life (as all political institutions are wont to do), NATO has usurped the role of the United Nations when any of its member nations believe
that military rather than diplomatic means will better suit their purposes.
As a result, we are now bogged down in an endless intervention in Serbia that, as I predicted, is threatening to eat up U.S. troops and dollars for the foreseeable future. That is bad enough, but if we threaten Russia, we could easily see an alliance of some really dangerous sleeping giants and the end of a carefully constructed peaceful balance in the world.
For those who aren’t students of history, or are too young to remember past alliances, I should point out that among Russia’s former republics are a number of Islamic states, which, if allied with the Middle East could pose a serious threat, since many of these countries have already proven themselves to prefer belligerence to conciliation.
Consider also that while Russia for the moment is experimenting with democracy and capitalism, there are many who are dissatisfied with the results. China has been hoping for an ally for many years now, and is waiting quietly for some Western foolishness to open the doors for her.
We don’t need any more military intervention in either Eastern or Western Europe, and NATO is strictly a military organization. Contact your congressmen before this little overture becomes a serious question. Tell them that NATO, the last vestige of a once vast military-industrial establishment, is fast becoming our worst threat to world peace. We really need to stop consideration of this latest expansion of militarism before it starts.
With all of its flaws, the United Nations is a far safer bet than NATO.