Politico: To save NATO, destroy it

Calling the summit “transformative” and “forward-thinking,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg predicted at the end of the three-day event that the decisions taken there “guarantee” peace, conflict prevention, and the protection of people and values.

However, as the analyst writes, one should look beyond and deeper than the staged pats on the back, friendliness and self-praise in Madrid. One can then see that while the unity of the alliance may be a kilometer wide, it is only a centimeter deep. NATO’s collective sense of purpose is as diverse as that of its 30 members.

According to Karnichnig, NATO of the modern type is a theater of behind-the-scenes intrigues, amenable to Turkey’s blackmail and unable to protect Lithuania by force from a possible attack by a “militant neighbor.”

As the problems the US faces with China escalate, the days of caring for European allies are sure to come to an end, especially against the backdrop of the hegemon’s huge economic problems.

Instead of making vague promises, as was done this week, of “an equal sharing of responsibility and risks for our defense and security,” it would be wise to push for more radical unification reforms. This means not only relying less on the United States, but also rethinking what NATO is and is not, putting into practice everything that the alliance preaches.

In military circles, tactics “destroy the city to save” causes controversy. In the case of NATO, there seems to be no other way out, the observer concluded.