NATO leaders gathered in Brussels on Thursday to discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine, where Vladimir Putin’s escalatory rhetoric – including threats of nuclear war – was denounced as “irresponsible and destabilizing”
A statement issued by the 30-state strong military alliance said it has responded to the Russian invasion by activating its defence plans, including the deployment of 40,000 troops on its eastern border, along with “significant air and naval assets.”
NATO added that it would now “accelerate” plans to transform its aims and priorities, which will be adopted in its once-a-decade Strategic Concept document, due to be unveiled at the upcoming NATO summit in Madrid in June.
But what will the next Strategic Concept entail? Every Strategic Concept since 1999 has involved an expansion of NATO’s territorial and global reach, more money poured into weapons development and procurement, and the war gaming of scenarios for intervention.
CND General Secretary Kate Hudson said NATO’s pledge to accelerate those trends – without recognising the damaging role they have played – only increased global security risks: “While we roundly condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and call for Vladimir Putin to immediately withdraw his troops, NATO has spent the last three decades constantly expanding its reach as a nuclear-armed military power.”
“CND – along with the rest of the international peace movement – has long argued for a new common security concept for Europe and beyond, that moves away from militarisation. We will be making the case for this at the Madrid Peace Summit which runs alongside the NATO summit in Madrid.”