'Not a piece of furniture'

[unhappycamper]

'Not a piece of furniture'

The results of the NATO summit were as predictable as a Soviet Communist Party congress, with the word "peace" replaced by "war". NATO's embrace of the US agenda of missile defence, nuclear arms, and its new role as global policeman surprised no one. No word about the United Nations or peacekeeping. In deference to Russia, the only mention of eastern expansion was continued "partnerships" with former Soviet republics Ukraine and Georgia. Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand and Japan were also offered special status. The new Strategic Doctrine, replacing the more modest Euro-centric 1999 model, really just reaffirmed US control of the foreign policy of what Zbigniew Brzezinski called its "vassal states".

There were a few ripples. France's new defense minister, Alain Juppé, openly said the Afghan conflict was a "trap" for NATO and called for an exit strategy, unlike Head of the British Armed Forces Sir David Richards, who opined, "NATO now needs to plan for a 30 or 40 year role." The Euro-spat continues over the continued presence of nuclear weapons in Europe, between France, which prides itself on its force de frappe, and Germany, which was denied any such private nuclear toys during the Cold War.

But they agreed to disagree and the summit was all smiles and photo ops, at least centre-stage. On the sidelines, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev told a warm United States President Obama Barack that he was ready to cooperate on missile defence but only in "a full-fledged strategic partnership between Russia and NATO", and Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai told a frosty Obama that he should scale back military operations and night raids that inflict heavy civilian casualties.

Through NATO's integration into the Pentagon's world command structure, it can be said that now, officially, the US rules the world. NATO has its Istanbul Initiative, attempting to militarise the Mediterranean Dialogue and Gulf Cooperation Councils covering the entire Middle East, including Israel. Even in Africa, only Eritrea, Libya, Sudan and Zimbabwe do not (yet) have relations with USAFRICOM. But then, NATO's two major "out of area" police roles -- Kosovo and Afghanistan -- are not encouraging signs, nor are the Pentagon's efforts in Iraq. The bigger NATO gets, and the more far-flung the US military, the more unwieldy and expensive both become. How do Malaysian soldiers in Afghanistan converse with Albanians? As Muslims, they may know their prayers in Arabic, but only by rote. And can they be trusted to kill their Afghan brothers?

What Russian strategists really think of NATO's "new" doctrine is difficult to tell. The professed preference for closer relations with the West by Atlantist Medvedev and the Russian elites he represents differ markedly from his predecessor Putin's. Despite Medvedev's assurances, his appearance at the NATO conference did little to dissipate the confusion about relations with NATO. His offer of a joint missile defence network is not the one that the US has in mind. He told the gathering that Russia won't join NATO missile defence as "piece of furniture". A senior Russian diplomat told Kommersant, "Yes, we will defend countries to the west of Russia. Equally, NATO must commit to the same responsibilities... any missiles that fly against us over Europe, they must all be shot down by American or NATO forces."

[BlueIris]

1. Keep 'em coming, uhc. nt