{"id":130660,"date":"2019-04-08T12:01:41","date_gmt":"2019-04-08T11:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=130660"},"modified":"2019-04-05T09:34:06","modified_gmt":"2019-04-05T08:34:06","slug":"nato-at-70-an-unlawful-organisation-with-serious-psychological-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2019\/04\/nato-at-70-an-unlawful-organisation-with-serious-psychological-problems\/","title":{"rendered":"NATO at 70: An Unlawful Organisation with Serious Psychological Problems"},"content":{"rendered":"

On 4 Apr 2019 NATO Celebrates Its 70th Anniversary<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>3 Apr 2019 – <\/em>Last night I witnessed a Danish public service debate program interviewing two pro-NATO experts who concluded by agreeing that NATO at 70 was vibrant and necessary and that it would surely turn 100 and – why not? – 140 years too!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Western mainstream media and their carefully selected editors and commentators are likely to have only politically correct perspectives on the anniversary.<\/p>\n

We believe it is important to raise questions about its members and NATO itself:<\/p>\n

NATO’s huge, accelerating armaments from an already superior position, its nuclear weapons and doctrine, its post-1989 expansion and confrontational policies, its interventions without UN mandate, its role in the new Cold War and – not the least – NATO’s permanent operation in violation of its own Treaty.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

NATO\u2019s Mausoleum 2018<\/p><\/div>\n

I regret if we happen to embitter some people’s joy. It’s a tiny effort at re-installing diversity, free opinion formation, independent research and to assist democracy in increasingly authoritarian and militarist times.<\/p>\n

In short, an effort at promoting peace perspectives.<\/p>\n

****<\/p>\n

Here are the Birthday Bouquets:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The future of NATO: An interview<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

NATO expansion: What Gorbachev heard and how he was cheated<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

NATO’s crisis and the Transatlantic conflict<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The increasing global arms trade: NATO – not Russia – is the main problem<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The big American mistakes with Russia<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Montenegro and NATO’s Faustian Bargain<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

NATO’s – bizarre – budget row: It should have more important things to discuss<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

TFF LIve: NATO is outdated – 8 arguments<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The Cold War ideas of March<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Ten articles on the New Cold War and a reflection<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Macedonia’s name and NATO<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Make NATO civilian and civilised<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

A NATO attack on nuclear disarmament<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The West’s alienation of Russia: The next wave will be Russia’s liberals<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The US Nuclear Posture Review: Sliding towa<\/em>rds nuclear war?<\/em><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

****<\/p>\n

Some of us don\u2019t see anything worth celebrating about an incredibly expensive, dangerous and harmful alliance which should have been closed down exactly 30 years ago.<\/p>\n

Why 30 years ago? Because in 1989, the First Cold War in the Western sphere \u2013 Europe \u2013 between the Warsaw Pact and NATO came to an end thanks to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact.<\/p>\n

When that happened and the Berlin Wall came down, NATO too should have been dissolved.<\/p>\n

Its raison d\u2019etre<\/em> until then had always and unambiguously been the very existence of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact (which, by the way, was established 6 years after<\/em> NATO, in May 1955) and its socialist\/communist ideology.<\/p>\n

But NATO instead continued to expand \u2013 today 29 countries of which 10 former Warsaw Pact members \u2013 against all promises about the opposite given to the last Soviet President, Mikhail Gorbachev<\/em>. And it has caused much harm even in peacetime.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at some dimensions that will remain untold at this Anniversary.<\/p>\n

How Is NATO Unlawful?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If \u2013 like this author \u2013 you believe that it is wrong and even unlawful for an organisation to ignore and violate its own treaty\/statutes\/laws, NATO is an unlawful<\/a> alliance which systematically violates its both its preamble and treaty provisions.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m pretty sure that most people \u2013 including those in politics and media \u2013 have never even glanced through the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation\u2019s treaty<\/a><\/em> text<\/a>. Since most people have also never read the United Nations Charter<\/a> either, about 99% of humanity has no idea of how close the two legal documents are to each other at least when it comes to stated purposes.<\/p>\n

Neither do they have a clue about NATO\u2019s full commitment to adhere to the UN Charter provisions. And those provisions aim at abolishing war and make peace by peaceful means and only use \u2013 UN-organised \u2013 military means as a last resort (Chapter 7) when everything civilian has been tried and found to be in vain.<\/p>\n

Are you surprised? Then read the NATO Treaty Preamble (my italics):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Parties to this Treaty reaffirm their faith in the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations<\/em> and their desire to live in peace with all peoples<\/em> and all governments.
\nThey are determined to safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilisation of their peoples, founded on the principles of democracy<\/em>, individual liberty<\/em> and the rule of law<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Article 1:<\/em>
\n\u201cThe Parties undertake, as set forth in the Charter of the United Nations, to settle any international dispute in which they may be involved by peaceful means<\/em> in such a manner that international peace and security and justice<\/em> are not endangered, and to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force<\/em> in any manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Article 5:<\/em>
\n\u201cThe Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America<\/em> shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence<\/em> recognised by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations\u2026\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Self-explanatory and meaningful. But completely ignored.<\/p><\/div>\n

Only Self-Defence, Defensive Weapons and Postures<\/strong><\/p>\n

Imagine if NATO adhered to such principles in its day-to-day policies. Today it does the exact opposite and wraps it all in boringly predictable rhetoric and the three mantras to explain and legitimize whatever it does: Security, stability and peace <\/em>\u2013 none of them having emerged yet in the real world, neither 1949-1989 nor since.<\/p>\n

A new NATO that would thus go back to its original Treaty provisions and build its new policies on them, would be very acceptable to the world, seen as no threat to anybody.<\/p>\n

It would be entirely defensive and only take action if one of its members were first attacked. That\u2019s a basically defensive<\/em> posture and in complete unity with moral principles and international law.<\/p>\n

And it would adhere to the Kantian categorical imperative about world peace: Do only yourself what can be elevated to a general principle adhered to be all others in the system without endangering that system.<\/p>\n

Defensive postures \u2013 self-defence \u2013 can be done by everyone without upsetting the system. Offensive \u201cdefence\u201d is nonsense and simply can\u2019t, it will lead to eternal armament and militarism.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why the UN Charter\u2019s Article 51 talk about self-defence.<\/p>\n

Psychological Problems?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, for sure \u2013 and I say that without being a psychologist. It\u2019s not really important to diagnose precisely. The problem is that what NATO does today is devoid of fact-based analyses of the world around it. It is based, instead, on internal dynamics which is the sum total of its member states\u2019 MIMACs \u2013 Military-Industrial-Media-Academic Complexes<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Thus, NATO has only one answer to every problem it sees: More money and more weapons.<\/p>\n

To legitimize its operations, it has to constantly develop\/maintain enemy images<\/em>, see one enemy here and see another enemy there and interpret the whole world as though it is \u201cout to get us\u201d.<\/p>\n

With this sophisticated but deliberately deceptive \u201cfear-ology\u201d<\/em> \u2013 i.e. making citizens pay without too much protest by considerable information and propaganda (fake and omission) operations that guarantee that people fear these constructed enemies \u2013 it continues ad absurdum while the world around it changes rapidly.<\/em><\/p>\n

At every given moment and occasion: Make the enemy look gigantic and ourselves at least a little inferior and therefore in need of new weapons, doctrines, exercises, expansions and what not.<\/p>\n

Military Expenditures as a Main Indicator<\/strong><\/p>\n

And what is the reality outside this \u2013 absurd \u2013 reality show?<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Well, there are many indicators of military strength but if you want just one which allows for comparisons in fixed prices and over time, the best single measurement is military expenditures.<\/p>\n

Based on this single indicator, NATO\u2019s military strength is overwhelming if compared with the military expenditures of the one-country enemy, Russia.<\/p>\n

Here are the figures:<\/p>\n

US military expenditures as of today is between US 700 and 1100 billion depending on what is included. The lower is Pentagon-only, the higher includes home security, pensions, costs for veterans etc. Russia\u2019s military expenditures were US 69 billion in 2016, 55 in 2017 and likely further reduced in 2018.<\/p>\n

In crude terms and based on reliable research including SIPRI\u2019s statistics, facts are that the US military expenditures alone is 13-20 times<\/em> higher. Rule of thumb is that the US stands for about 70% of NATO\u2019s total expenditures.<\/p>\n

If you sit in Moscow you need to add the expenditures of the 28 other NATO member, some of which \u2013 like Germany, France, Italy and Britain \u2013 are among the highest in the world. And either own or hosts nuclear weapons close to your country.<\/p>\n

And as if that wasn\u2019t enough, NATO\u2019s military expenditures is increasing. The US demands up to 2% of the member states\u2019 GDP. NATO recently decided to further increase<\/em> its military expenditures by US 100 billion. That is, believe it or not, almost twice the total Russian military expenditures<\/em>.<\/p>\n

To learn more and find out how much you are not told when you listen to NATO\u2019s representatives and advocates arguing permanently for higher and higher contributions from all members. The relevant figures are here<\/a> and here<\/a> and here.<\/a><\/p>\n

What Type of Psychological Illness?<\/strong><\/p>\n

So what to make of an alliance that for 30 years has been unable to define its post-Cold War mission, has violated international law and its own treaty time and again? <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What to make of NATO\u2019s militaristic elites<\/em> who are vastly and increasingly superior their self-defined enemies in terms of expenditures and technological quality, but feel they must shout and scream constantly about all the existentially threatening enemies they see (Russia, Iraq, China, North Korea, Iran, Libya, Venezuela, and who is next?) and must attempt to force even allies to line up behind policies that clearly violate international law such as the sanctions on Iran?<\/p>\n

What to make of a US-managed NATO elite who constantly threatens others with war, place sanctions on them, seek to isolate them, speak bad about and demonise them, and accuse them of doing what they themselves do to a much larger extent?<\/p>\n

What should we call it? Paranoid? Psychotic? Autistic? Insane? Should we say that NATO is losing the grip, thrives on invented images, live in a fantasy world filled with illusions and self-deception?<\/p>\n

Or, should we just say that it suffers from dangerous \u2018groupthink\u2019<\/a><\/em> which excludes the possibility that NATO\u2019s decision-makers are ever seeing or hearing counter-views and counter-facts and therefore increasingly believe that they are \u2013 exceptionally \u2013 chosen by God to lead the world and that they are always right and can\u2019t be wrong?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure what defines the illness better or that a precise diagnosis is necessary. But I am sure that NATO is unhealthy<\/em> and dangerous.<\/em><\/p>\n

Any group that keeps twisting reality to suit only its own inner structural needs, continues to interpret reality so as to maximize its own utility in it and for decades avoid reality checks and lessons learned is, by definition, a dangerous enterprise.<\/p>\n

Over time, such an alliance \u2013 and its declining leader \u2013 are likely to become a victim of its own propaganda, mistaking it for the reality and the truth. Military secrets are well-protected from outside scrutiny. Even better protected, it seems, are the ways of thinking, the values and the manifest absence of self-criticism: \u201cIt\u2019s ours to dominate and we have so much firepower that we don\u2019t have to think!\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

The whole structure and power ideology, the mission and the discrepancy between political conduct and its own treaty make NATO its own worst enemy. It will be the last to see that NATO now is the acronym of the North Atlantic Treaty Obsolescence<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

\u201cWe have met the enemy and he is us\u201d says Pogo. It applies beautifully to militarism that can never produce peace<\/p><\/div>\n

But Wait\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

The problem, however, is that the ageing alliance sits on huge arsenals of nuclear weapons (not<\/em> mentioned in its treaty). It builds on a nuclear doctrine that permits it to plan and, if necessary, conduct a nuclear war. It finds it right to be the first to use nuclear weapons and even against a conventional attack. And it is dominated by the US Empire and the US nuclear doctrine.<\/p>\n

The problem, furthermore, is that when they gather, its leaders could feel emboldened by a megalomaniac<\/em> illusion that they are<\/em> omnipotent and should<\/em> be rulers of the world.<\/p>\n

When we observe what they decide on a day-by-day basis, I\u2019d say that in reality, they are anti-intellectuals who lacks the basics of ethics. Worse, to possess so much destructive power, you must be utterly careful and humble. No sane person can possible perceive NATO and its dominant countries as humble.<\/p>\n

NATO’s constructive contribution to humanity\u2019s future is infinitely small compared with its destructive impact, its confrontational attitude, its expansion and its members\u2019 warfare, particularly in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

We could<\/em> actually live in a peaceful world if it wasn\u2019t for NATO and its member states. But no other group of countries has conducted more warfare for so long, killed so many and destroyed so much as they have.<\/p>\n

Nobody has had so many resources \u2013 including information and media influence \u2013 at their disposal to threaten millions of citizens into fearful submission. (We need a taxpayer revolt against military expenditures\u2026)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Think of all the good that could have been done in the world for just a tiny fraction of what NATO and its member states have squandered over the years on their military and on warfare, death and destruction.<\/p>\n

Where is the stability, security and peace that NATO has promised us over the last 70 years? If you have promised to achieve something for 70 years that has still not materialized, it doesn\u2019t require a professor to judge that it is time to say \u2018Goodbye\u2019!<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

NATO\u2019s 70th Anniversary self-celebration is tragic and should never have happened. Its new Alliance headquarters should be seen as a mausoleum over militarist folly and vanity.<\/p>\n

Its members\u2019 squandering of scarce resources in times of the West\u2019s multi-crisis with not a single successful war to show while hatred against the West is on the rise everywhere, NATO is a major reason that the West is falling. In the process, it has of course to blame everybody else<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

When NATO is gone, what could this be used for?<\/p><\/div>\n

Only someone who has been fooled, brainwashed or paid well can believe that this alliance is for the common good of its own members and of humanity.<\/p>\n

Scrap it as soon as possible or turn it into something constructive for us all!<\/a><\/p>\n

__________________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em>TFF Director Prof. Jan Oberg is a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research, TFF<\/a> in Lund, Sweden is independent of government and corporate funding and thus conducts truly free research. Thanks to its 60 expert Associates around the world, it has a well-respected capacity from on-the-ground conflict analysis and mediation work in places such as Georgia, ex-Yugoslavia, Israel-Palestine, Iraq, Burundi and Iran. Since 1986 TFF has worked for the UN Charter goal of peace by peaceful means. TFF produces truthful, comprehensive analyses and critiques the exaggerated use of violent means. That\u2019s diagnosis and prognosis. But we also do treatment because the world will not become a better place without constructive dialogue and ideas.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 transnational.live<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

3 Apr 2019 – Western mainstream media and their carefully selected editors and commentators are likely to have only politically correct perspectives on the anniversary. We believe it is important to raise questions about its members and NATO itself: NATO’s huge, accelerating armaments from an already superior position, its nuclear weapons and doctrine, its post-1989 expansion and confrontational policies, its interventions without UN mandate, its role in the new Cold War and – not the least – NATO’s permanent operation in violation of its own Treaty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":130667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-transcend-members"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130660\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}