Nearly 25 years after the collapse of
communism in the Soviet Union and eastern Europe, many people are wondering,
why is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) still around?
NATO, an alliance
of nations including the United States and western European countries formed in
1949 to deter any potential aggression by the Soviet Union and its allies, is
not only still around, but has increased its membership and been involved in
several military interventions.
NATO forces led the
intervention in Serbia in 1999, took part in the invasion of Afghanistan
in 2001, and aided in the bombing of Libya
in 2011.
Defenders of NATO say the alliance is still needed to provide vital help in combatting
terrorist forces around the globe and countering perceived expansionism by Russia .
But critics, both in
Europe and the U.S. ,
claim NATO has become a point organization for protecting western imperial
interests around the world. The bombing
of Libya , for
instance, they say, was done to make sure that western oil companies could
regain access to Libya ’s
rich oil fields, something they had lost when former dictator Mohammar Quaddafi
came to power.
“NATO is an extension of the Pentagon,” said
Henry Lowendorf, a leader of the New Haven Peace Council. “The U.S.
calls the shots, and these other countries go along.”
“Everybody thought,
when the Soviet Union fell, that would be the end of
NATO. Instead they grew. NATO grew,” Lowendorf said.
Acting in
violation of the agreement U.S.officials struck with the last Soviet leader
Mikhail Gorbachev --- that NATO would not take on any more members and move its
borders to the east towards Russia
--- NATO did just that in the last two decades, picking up new members out of the former
Iron Curtain group, such as Poland ,
Lithuania and Hungary .
The eastward
advance has caused great distress among Russian officials, and is fueling the
crisis over Ukraine .
That country, which borders Russia ,
is now led by a western-oriented government, which took power after a coup in
February. Government forces have been fighting a civil war against pro-Russian dissidents
in eastern Ukraine
who are refusing to be under the control of the new regime. The Ukrainian
government recently applied for NATO membership.
Lowendorf and a small
group of others recently held an anti-NATO protest in downtown New
Haven , handing out leaflets to passersby and holding placards that said “NATO ,
U.S.
Protests are also taking place in Wales ,
where NATO countries are holding a summit this week. President Obama will be attending.
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| Nancy Eberg, Mary Compton and Henry Lowendorf protest NATO. |
The Ukraine
situation is expected to be a chief topic of discussion, as well as a push by
the U.S. and
the UK to make
other member countries increase their defense spending and meet the NATO
requirement that each nation spend at least 2 per cent of their GDP on the
military.
Lowendorf and
others say it’s time to fold up NATO.
