On 23 January the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists will reset the Doomsday clock.
Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean to say capitalism won’t start a world war. How many more pieces does the jigsaw need to make the picture clearer? Capitalism makes life harder than it ought to be for many so the news that Western capitalism seems intent on replaying the Cold War and all the tensions that went with it may understandably not yet have crossed everyone's radar. But has the softening up begun? Amongst the dross published by The Sun is a short piece which quotes Alexander Osovtsov, a Russian exile and ‘high-ranking Putin enemy.’
‘In a stark warning to policymakers, he argued that peace with the existing Russian state will never be possible.
Any kind of ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow will "only be a chance for [Putin] to increase his forces and begin once again," he said.
"This is the nature of the modern-day Russian state - [it] cannot live in peace, the only style of life is aggression and destruction."’
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/25422204/ww3-already-begun-russia-north-korea-putin-enemy/
Capitalism breeds war
‘War, the threat of war, and preparations for war are built into the global capitalist system involving as it does economic competition both between capitalist enterprises and between capitalist states. Economic conflicts arise over sources of raw materials, trade routes, markets and investment outlets, and strategic points and areas to protect these.’
Socialist Standard April 2022
https://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-labour-party-flag-and-big-stick-2022.html
‘Two top Swedish officials have warned the country should brace for war as it prepares for the first stages of joining NATO. During a security conference in western Sweden over the weekend, the country’s Civil Defence Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin said action needed to be taken rapidly to mitigate against a looming threat from Russia pointing to the developing situation in Ukraine as evidence that war could spread to other parts of Europe.
“Many have said it before me, but let me say it with the force of my office – there could be a war in Sweden,” he said, adding that awareness needed to be translated into practical action, such as investing more heavily on defence spending. Such an effort can only be made quickly enough if the vast majority of people are aware of the situation and understand what is at stake.” The immediate reaction to his comments was mixed, drawing criticism from former officials while military chiefs praised the call to arms.’
The Independent 11 January 2024
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/sweden-nato-ukraine-russia-b2476901.html
It’s reported that, ‘NATO is set to hold its largest round of war games in decades, with some 90,000 troops from all 31 member states – as well as Sweden – planning to participate. The drills will run for several months, and see training operations held across Europe.
Dubbed “Steadfast Defender 2024,” the exercise will kick off in January and continue into May, the US-led military bloc's Supreme Allied Commander for Europe Christopher Cavoli announced.
“Exercise Steadfast Defender 2024 will be the largest NATO exercise in decades, with participation from approximately 90,000 forces from all 31 Allies and our good partner Sweden,” Cavoli said, adding that the drills would simulate an “emerging conflict scenario against a near-peer adversary.”
At least 1,100 combat vehicles are also set to take part in the war games – including 133 tanks and 533 infantry fighting vehicles – in addition to more than 50 naval vessels from aircraft carriers to destroyers. Around 80 helicopters, drones and fighter jets will join them.
Cavoli went on to say that the training operations would show NATO’s ability to “reinforce the Euro-Atlantic area via trans-Atlantic movement of forces from North America,” suggesting the drills would rehearse a major US deployment to the continent.
In a separate announcement, the bloc said the drill would demonstrate NATO’s ability to “conduct and sustain complex multi-domain operations over several months, across thousands of kilometres, from the High North to Central and Eastern Europe, and in any condition.”
UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said London would contribute 20,000 military personnel to Steadfast Defender, including troops with the Royal Navy, the Army and the Royal Air Force. British fighter jets, warships and submarines will also take part.
The last war games to rival the size of the upcoming exercise came in 1988, at the height of the Cold War, when 125,000 Western troops gathered for the US-led “Reforger” drill. The annual operation was meant to simulate a large deployment of forces to West Germany in the event of conflict with the Soviet Union, but was halted in 1993 following the collapse of the USSR.
German media has claimed that Berlin was bracing for hostilities with Russia, which it projected could arise as early as summer 2025.
Moscow has for decades voiced concerns about NATO’s expansion towards its borders, viewing it as an existential threat. President Vladimir Putin earlier cited Ukraine’s desire to join the bloc as one of the key reasons for the current conflict.’
https://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-labour-party-flag-and-big-stick-2022.html
‘After Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine in late February, NATO deployed 40,000 troops to its eastern flank, nearly ten times more than a year before. Moscow, meanwhile, considers NATO military sites close to its border as a national security threat and has warned that sending heavy weapons from the West to Kiev risks a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO.’
https://socialismoryourmoneyback.blogspot.com/2022/12/dig-out-old-copy-of-protect-and-survive.html 2022
‘The essence of the North-Atlantic alliance was a military and political bloc against Russia has not changed since its establishment in 1949. NATO has not changed its goals. In the grand geo-political strategic chessboard little changes ever since Anglo-Austro-Prussian-Franco concerns about an expansionist Tsar in the 18th/19th centuries.’.
https://socialismoryourmoneyback.blogspot.com/2012/05/we-hate-nato-too.html 2012
1 comment:
In my opinion, '84 was the height of the Cold War (rhyme unintended).
On one hand, you could say that NATO expansion up to Russia's borders is a threat to Russia, however, on the other hand, you could say that Russia's border-nations would feel vulnerable to a Russian invasion if they did not join NATO.
At the end of the day, how big or small NATO is matters as much to working people as the outcome of the War of the Spanish Succession did.
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