NATO expansion to Finland and Sweden a danger to world peace – Jammu Kashmir Latest News | Tourism
By David Cavendish
On Wednesday, August 10, President Joe Biden signed the treaty to allow Sweden and Finland membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This follows the action of the Senate last week, which voted 95 to 1 (with one member voting “present” and three abstaining) to ratify the treaty. Earlier this summer, the House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution supporting the move (since that chamber has no constitutional role in treaties). It passed 394-18.
After some research it is discovered that those in both chambers who voted “no” were right-wing extremists of the MAGA ilk. The only negative vote in the Senate came from Republican Senator Josh Hawley, who we know from the famous photo of him giving a clenched fist to the rioters on January 6, 2021.
Not a progressive member of either chamber opposed this expansion of NATO. To say this was a surprise is putting it mildly. After decades of principled opposition to US military policies — in Southeast Asia, Iraq and Afghanistan — not one member of the Representative Caucus or several liberal senators stood up and opposed the measure. Are we returning to what has been called the “bipartisan foreign policy” that operated with virtually no opposition within government for nearly twenty years after World War II?
Since its founding in 1949, the United States has played the dominant role in NATO. At the center of the Cold War in Europe, the alliance, initially with twelve members, was created to deter what was perceived as “Soviet aggression”. It would provide a military response to any challenge to American hegemony and to protect capitalism in Europe. It has since expanded eight times and now counts thirty countries in its ranks. With the exception of Spain, each new member is placed between Germany and Russia. (Seems like shades of Hitler’s “Drang Nach Osten” – the drive east.) All of the recent additions were formerly part of the socialist world.
One would think that with the dissolution of the socialist systems in Eastern Europe that NATO would quietly fade out of existence. It did not, and in fact, since the end of the Cold War, the alliance has been involved in military operations in a wide variety of places: the Balkans, Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan, among others. Note by the way that none of these places are anywhere near the North Atlantic. It became clear that the alliance was refocusing its purpose to become a major player in maintaining US hegemony around the world.
And early this year, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, NATO has strengthened its role as champion of European security. The economic elites of the United States and the European Union are redefining the power relations on the continent on their own terms. A major goal is to cripple Russia’s economic and political influence in Eurasia.
This has had a dramatic impact in Northern Europe. The latest developments will make the Baltic Sea a NATO lake.
Led by conservative governments (although they label themselves “social democratic”), Sweden and Finland have applied to join the alliance. Two of the largest countries in northern Europe, they have long followed policies of neutrality and non-alignment. Sweden declared itself neutral in both world wars and continued that policy until today. Finland, which shares an 830-mile border with Russia, worked out a relationship of mutual respect and non-interference in each other’s affairs with its large neighbor to the east. when it was the Soviet Union or later , Russian Federation.
Sweden’s and Finland’s requests for membership in NATO and the alliance’s further provocative moves to the east were met with enthusiasm in the West.
The Council on Foreign Relations, an influential think tank in Washington, explained what it sees as the benefits of Sweden and Finland’s membership.
– A Finnish and Swedish membership is expected to strengthen the alliance’s eastern flank and its collective defense in northern Europe. Perhaps the most significant effect would be the stretching of NATO’s border with Russia… And Finland and Sweden together would significantly expand the alliance’s presence in the Baltic Sea and the Arctic Circle….”
The article went on to say that “some Western military analysts have said that NATO would almost certainly need basing rights in Finland and Sweden to defend the Baltic states.”
But not everyone in Sweden or Finland approves of their government’s changed policy. The communist parties in Sweden and Finland have both made statements strongly condemning the move.
The Finnish Communists explain: “We understand the anxiety caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The attack has been a shock to us as well. We condemn Russia’s criminal war and call on Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine. “At the same time, we note that Finland is not threatened by military attack. This assessment has also been included in [Finnish] The government’s security policy report, which is currently being considered in the Riksdag.
“Finland’s accession to NATO will not bring more stability to the region, but more tension. Turning Finland’s eastern border into a border between NATO and Russia would bring more armed forces and military activity there.”
In a separate statement, the Finnish Communists talked about the non-alignment and friendship policy with the Soviet Union, and later Russia, which would be jeopardized by NATO membership. “Ultimately, it is a matter of choice: whether to promote an accelerating arms race or to choose the path of peace. According to President Kekkonen, Finland is not neutral on the issue of war and peace. Finland is on the side of peace against war.”
Their Swedish peers expressed similar views. “Sweden’s accession to NATO is now only a few formalities away and we find ourselves in a new reality, where Swedish imperialism has taken the full step and sought membership in the strongest and most important imperialist alliance of our time.”
The statement goes on to say that this step “carries significant risks not only for the working people of Finland and Sweden, but for the working people of the whole world, as membership in both countries will mean a further escalation and a further sharpening of the contradictions which characterizes the capitalist system.” And it concludes, “The [Swedish Communist Party] Parliament notes that the fight against NATO must be essentially anti-capitalist. It is a task for the communists to show how capitalism breeds war and that war under capitalism is inevitable and how alliances like NATO are a product of capitalism. The only way to achieve lasting peace is through socialism.”
Sweden’s and Finland’s application for membership in NATO opens a more dangerous period in the fight for world peace. It is necessary for all people of good will to resist any expansion of NATO. This should be only the first step in a movement to abolish NATO and all military alliances and the creation of a new international order based on peace and non-interference in the affairs of other countries. (IPA)