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“NATO is a defensive Alliance. NATO is there to prevent a conflict, to prevent a war. And therefore, we have strengthened our deterrence to send a very clear message to Russia that we are there to protect and defend all Allies.”[1]
– NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (Oct 12, 2022)
“It is not a defensive Alliance, by any stretch of the imagination! It is exploiting the tragedy in Ukraine to build itself up along what it presumes to call its eastern flank…We have to see this as history’s largest, history’s longest, and the world’s first ever global military block!”
– Rick Rozoff (from this week’s interview)
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In a 2008 article written by Rodrique Tremblay, both the running presidential candidates, U.S. Senator John McCain and U.S. Senator Barrack Obama, saw the prospect of turning “NATO into a new offensive military alliance” promoting “American interests around the world.” Both of the main governing alternatives, in other words, were “enthusiastic military enthusiasts.”[2]
The U.S., experiencing significant defeats in one war after another throughout the last two decades, are understandably wanting a “coalition of the willing” to back their agenda. But in the more than thirty years since the Soviet Union collapsed, the NATO alliance in violation of a deal struck with Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev, the Alliance expanded “more than an inch” eastward, absorbed 14 countries, and now is poised at the doorstep of Russia.
NATO went from being a defensive military organization, to an offensive military organization. Yet, less than a week into Russia went into Ukraine, West liberal media described the current war as “Europe’s worst security crisis since the end of World War II!”[3][4]
In any case, as Tremblay rightly points out, it is difficult to see what other NATO members, some for almost 75 years now, can get out of offensive measures targeting Russia. Especially when it obstructs attempts at peaceful political and economic interaction.[5]
Not a single opposition party in the Canadian House of Commons has taken a stand against NATO maneuvers toward Russia. But that doesn’t mean that individuals who care about the foreign policy role of Canada should be content with a Prime Minister acting like Robin to Joe Biden’s Batman! That we can offer independent alternatives to measures threatening more and more war, more and more material profits for weapons manufacturers, and less and less resources for meeting the housing, education, environmental and social means of all of us. [6]
Investigating the role of Canada outside of NATO advocating peace not war on the world stage is the focus of this week’s episode of the Global Research News Hour.
In our first half hour, the anti-war and anti-NATO critic Rick Rozoff returns to give us his appraisal of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, its plans for the future, and how it’s more than just a ‘paper tiger’ threatening Russia. He’s followed by lawyer, activist and fellow journalist Dimitri Lascaris who presents his views on what Canadian foreign policy could look like absent the restrictions placed by NATO. Finally, Ken Stone of the Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War comes back to talk about the recent anti-war protest his group organized outside of a meeting of Federal Cabinet ministers.
Rick Rozoff, renowned author and geopolitical analyst, actively involved in opposing war, militarism and interventionism for over fifty years. He manages the Anti-Bellum and For peace, against war website. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization
Dimitri Lascaris is a lawyer, human rights activist and former candidate for the leadership of the Green Party of Canada. He is based in Montréal. His site is dimitrilascaris.org
Ken Stone is a long time antiwar, anti-racism, environmental, and labour activist, resident in Hamilton. He is Treasurer of the Hamilton Coalition To Stop The War. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.
(Global Research News Hour Episode 377)
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Notes:
- https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/opinions_208040.htm#:~:text=NATO%20Secretary%20General%20Jens%20Stoltenberg%3A%20NATO%20is%20a,are%20there%20to%20protect%20and%20defend%20all%20Allies.
- https://www.globalresearch.ca/why-not-simply-abolish-nato/9874
- ibid
- https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/27/western-media-coverage-ukraine-russia-invasion-criticism
- https://www.globalresearch.ca/why-not-simply-abolish-nato/9874
- https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2022/01/31/caop-j31.html
