... contrast to the Biden presidency, when the US and EU achieved unprecedented solidarity, including on the issue of containing Russia. But can we really speak of a transatlantic schism? After all, the US and the EU are linked by formal relations within NATO, a vast cultural legacy of alliance relations, and close economic ties. Are we witnessing a fluctuation, albeit acute, but reversible? Or are we witnessing a fundamentally new trend that will only manifest itself in the future?
Ivan Timofeev:
New ...
... intrigues and power struggles, with never-ending conflicts between monarchies, families, religions, states, and great powers. For thousands of years, wars have been occurring continuously and without interruption. The formation of a unified Europe has changed ... ... interests with those of its neighbors, and subject it to close oversight, thereby preventing any deviation from the prescribed path. NATO’s first Secretary General, Lord Ismay,
summarized
the alliance’s mission as “to keep the Soviet Union out, the Americans ...
... more likely that Gorbachev truly believed in a new world order based on trust between former adversaries. And here we return to the second type of complaint, regarding how the European security system, emerging from German unification, was handled.
NATO as the Main Condition
For Germany’s Western allies, its status in NATO acquired fundamental importance. The U.S. was naturally concerned with maintaining its strategic presence in Europe, since German unification formally ended the entire postwar ...
... weapon doctrine and, moreover, enables the conventional aggression that indeed we now face. Any provocations on the borders with NATO in the Baltic must be met with a disproportionate response. After the attacks on our cities and strategic forces, our policy ... ... nuclear escalation and (
inter alia
, military) attacks on overseas U.S. assets, which outnumber Russia’s more than one thousand to one.
Now for the most unpleasant but substantively necessary part. After all warnings have been given – nuclear warheads ...
... rebranding of the Liberal International Order (LIO) that originated and developed in two periods of US preponderance: the post-World War II era and the post-Cold War era. Grounded in international institutions including the UN, the IMF, and chiefly NATO, it claimed to promote prosperity, global peace and economic cooperation; however, it has perpetually reflected US strategic and economic interests. However, the period of US unipolarity is now but history as it cannot unilaterally establish international ...
... strikes following conventional escalation. The former scenario proves politically less sustainable, risking Russia's designation as aggressor and consequent international isolation. The latter, while slightly reducing political costs, still permits accusations that Moscow violated the nuclear taboo first. However, apart from politics, other things are equally important. Both scenarios preserve NATO's capacity to deliver nuclear or conventional counterstrikes. Any Russian nuclear deployment risks devastating retaliation, presenting Moscow with an existential dilemma: persist with conventional operations despite potential defeat; continue tactical ...
... perform, hoping performance alone will pass for policy.
Now Trump has called their bluff. He wants cash, troops, commitment. NATO’s new secretary-general, Mark Rutte – now reborn as an American loyalist – welcomed the idea enthusiastically. But ... ... strategy papers, the bloc has failed to meaningfully expand its defense capacity. At most, they might manage to recruit a few thousand mercenaries from impoverished Balkan states to send to the front.
Even this is unlikely. Any serious move toward independent ...
... China, it was 2017. For Iran, 2023. Since then, war – in its modern, diffuse form – has intensified. This is not a new Cold War. Since 2022, the West’s campaign against Russia has grown more decisive. The risk of direct nuclear confrontation with NATO over the Ukraine conflict is rising. Donald Trump’s return to the White House created a temporary window in which such a clash could be avoided, but by mid-2025, hawks in the US and Western Europe had pushed us dangerously close again.
This war ...
The globalization of NATO will only largely occur at the level of high political rhetoric
On Wednesday, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte concluded a two-day official visit to Japan—his first visit to the country since becoming the chief of the transatlantic military ...
... antagonistic stance towards her recent wartime ally was based not so much on ideological differences, but rather on the desire to keep Europe and the USSR at loggerheads. The ideological propaganda was simply to gain the support of the masses. Lord Ismay, NATO’s first Secretary General, put it bluntly but pertinently when he said that the purpose of the Alliance was to keep the Americans in Europe, the Russians out, and the Germans down.
Understanding her reduced economic and military strength after ...
