We Need NATO More Than Ever

 There’s a reason both Russia and China are pushing propaganda narratives designed to weaken support for NATO.

With leaders of NATO nations meeting in Washington to celebrate 75 years of the alliance, much of the West is being subjected to a well-coordinated campaign to undermine support for the world’s strongest defensive alliance.

https://spencerfernando.com/2024/07/09/we-need-nato-more-than-ever/

This campaign is being pushed mostly by Russia and China, two authoritarian states with expansionist ambitions, along with an assist from Iran – a radical regime that seeks to commit genocide by destroying Israel.

All three nations – Russia, China, and Iran – want to undermine NATO and the Western world for a very simple reason:

The West stands in the way of the kind of global authoritarian state the dictators want to establish.

Authoritarian Globalism

A key aspect of the anti-NATO narrative is that NATO somehow represents a globalist hegemony that threatens other nations.

What’s ironic about this is that Russia, China, and Iran are all trying to impose a form of globalist authoritarianism. You’ll notice they talk a lot about they supposedly represent the ‘global south,’ and cooperate amongst each other in an attempt to impose a new order on the world. If they got their way, the world would controlled from Beijing, Moscow, and Tehran. As we see in Ukraine, Israel, and potentially soon in Taiwan, it’s the authoritarian states – not the free world – that seek to expand their borders by force.

And the few Western nations tilting towards the authoritarian Axis – like Hungary – make a mockery of their supposed ‘anti-globalist’ rhetoric. Hungary is now openly allowing China’s police to patrol the streets of the country:

“Chinese police will soon be patrolling streets alongside local counterparts in Hungarian cities, according to a new agreement.

The agreement, inked last month by Hungarian Minister of the Interior Sandor Pinter and Chinese Minister for Public Safety Wang Xiaohong, is aimed at boosting security in well-trafficked tourist areas, the Ministry of the Interior told Hungarian news portal Telex last week.”

Remember, Ukraine is more democratic than Russia. Israel is more democratic than Iran, and Taiwan is more democratic than China. Each authoritarian state wants to destroy the democratic state, lest their people get any ‘crazy ideas’ like being able to speak freely and vote in free elections.

But of course, the expansionist goals of authoritarian states are held in check by alliances like NATO. NATO remains – regardless of what the anti-Western propagandists claim – a defensive alliance. If one NATO country attacks a non-NATO country, there is no obligation for other NATO countries to intervene. The obligation is only in place if a NATO country is attacked – hence the defensive nature of the alliance.

There’s a reason so many Eastern European nations – many of which are quite Conservative – sought to join NATO as soon as they could. They knew that Russia would attack them – as Russia attacked Ukraine – unless they had defenders.

And so, as Russia, China, and Iran build up their military forces, and as the authoritarian axis looks to expand their power in places like the Arctic, NATO remains more important than ever before, because NATO stands in the way of the authoritarian axis.

This also means that those within the West who advocate against NATO are – whether they accept it or not – serving as ‘useful idiots’ of Russia, China, and Iran. They are making it possible for our authoritarian enemies to defeat us without even firing a shot, and that’s why the anti-Western anti-NATO narratives spread by those doing the bidding of Russia, China, and Iran, must be countered and defeated.

Canada must recognize this, and start doing our part. We need to rapidly ramp up our military spending, deepen our defence partnerships with other NATO countries, confront propaganda here at home, invest in military R&D, and show that we take our obligations seriously. We also must – along with our allies – send a clear message to Russia that NATO – not Russia – gets to decide who joins NATO. It’s not up to Russia whether Ukraine gets to join, it’s up to Ukraine and NATO nations.

The fact remains that if we truly want to increase the odds of peace, we must show resolve, we must prepare for war, and we must ensure that NATO remains strong.

Spencer Fernando