This NATO Summit Is a Big Win for Biden
The alliance’s resurgence since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a signature achievement.
Read my latest in Foreign Policy here.
Next week, leaders from the 32 members of NATO will gather in Washington to celebrate a truly remarkable achievement: the 75th anniversary of the strongest, most enduring alliance in recorded history. That NATO can also celebrate its powerful resurgence since the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a signature achievement of U.S. President Joe Biden. Under his leadership, the alliance has expanded to include two well-armed, strategically savvy new members, Finland and Sweden. On Biden’s watch, the number of NATO states spending 2 percent or more of their GDP on defense has expanded from nine to 23, with several other countries on course to meet this target soon. At the summit, the Biden administration will rightly press allies to think of 2 percent as a floor, not a target.
During Biden’s term, NATO readiness also has expanded dramatically, including more U.S. soldiers deployed to Europe, more NATO troops in the front-line states closest to Russia, and roughly 500,000 alliance soldiers ready for combat in Europe. Plans are well underway in Europe and the United States to vastly expand the alliance’s collective military-industrial base—alleviating not only shortages of key weapons and munitions for Ukraine but making the alliance as a whole better prepared for future threats.
Read the rest of the article here.
I'm very worried for Ukraine - they should be in NATO. I heard news of a poll in Russia (from today's INSIDERUSSIA livestream, where Konstanin - a Russian who left Russia in the near beginning, when Putin mobilized in 2022) Konstantin said they did a poll of average Russian citizens and over 30% approve of Russia nuking Ukraine "off the map" and more than 40% of Russians who consume Russian TV propaganda shows. This is the first I'm hearing of Putin actually thinking about this idea - beyond any normal Medvedev rant about nuking countries in Europe - is Putin getting THAT DESPERATE? I've heard the new sanctions are biting hard, but still. Nuclear missiles to liberate Ukraine, PUTIN ? That's a whole other level of GENOCIDE.
I was seriously angry to hear NATO bring up "too much corruption" as a sudden excuse to keep Ukraine out of NATO - it seems very wrong to me, as the level of corruption has decreased significantly - and many other countries(for example, Romania, Albania, and No. Macedonia were accepted into NATO with greater "corruption", according to Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index . So why, why not NATO now? An invitation at LEAST.
Garry Kasparov recently said in an interview with Silicon Curtain's Jon Fink, " NATO had only one goal, one goal only - to save free Europe against Russian invasion. Ukraine is the only European nation that fought for the very purpose NATO was built for. How on earth can you have any moral rights to actually doubt the Ukrainians’ rights to join NATO? They paid hundreds of thousands of lives, an enormous blood price, to become NATO." ( I totally agree with this! )
I think we are wrong not to give Ukraine an invitation to join NATO and expedite their membership. I honestly think that is the only thing that will stop Putin in his tracks.