Stoltenberg Declares NATO a Political Organization

June 5, 2021 (EIRNS)—NATO is no longer merely a military alliance engaged in mutual defense of its members. It’s now a political-military alliance with concerns and interests across the globe. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, in a virtual speech sponsored by the Brookings Institution and the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), previewed his NATO 2030 proposal ahead of the June 14 NATO summit. He set the stage with attacks on Russia and China, who, he said, were “leading an authoritarian pushback against the rules-based international order.”

“Russia continues its pattern of dangerous behavior, with its massive military build-up from the Arctic to Africa,” he said. “It intimidates its neighbors, suppresses peaceful opposition at home, and carries out cyber and hybrid attacks across NATO countries.” NATO, Stoltenberg went on, does not see China as an adversary “but Beijing does not share our values.”

Stoltenberg’s NATO 2030 plan has eight points, the first of which is that “we will strengthen NATO as the unique and indispensable forum for trans-Atlantic consultations, on all issues that affect trans-Atlantic security, including, for instance, on Syria, Iran, or the South China Sea,” as if the South China Sea were in the “trans-Atlantic.” NATO, he went on, is not just a military alliance but a “political-military” alliance. “And even when we may not take military action, our political unity matters.” Included among the remaining points were the usual blather about the “shared values” of NATO members and partners and the usual commitment to defending “the rules-base international order” which is allegedly threatened by both Russia and China.

NATO 2030 is aimed especially at China, even more so than the declared adversary Russia. “Almost all the proposals in NATO 2030 are relevant for how NATO could address the rise of China,” Stoltenberg said,

“and more political consultations among Allies, strengthening deterrence and defense, investing more in technology, sharing technology, facilitating the development of new technology, resilience, reaching out to new partners, working with partners in Asia-Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea. And also the fact that we’re going to decide to develop our next Strategic Concept.”

Stoltenberg “guaranteed” that the new strategic concept, which will be developed after the summit, will mention China more than once. “But the document, the communiqué, the leaders will agree here in Brussels at the NATO Summit we will have much more language on China than we have ever had before,” he said. “And there will be concrete decisions on technology, on resilience, and so on, which are all relevant for the way we handle the rise of China.”