Russia announced on the 21st that it recognized the two pro-Russian separatist republics in eastern Ukraine and sent Russian troops into the country for "peacekeeping." Britain and the United States believed that this was an attack on Ukraine and would begin sanctioning Russia. The dispute was sparked by Ukraine's bid to join NATO, which Russia strongly opposed, warning that NATO should not be included in Ukraine. What kind of organization is NATO? Why does Ukraine's bid to join anger Russia? I have compiled important events and taken you to understand how NATO is facing the new challenges to the global order after the Cold War.
The Cold War between the United States and Europe against the blockade of the Soviet Union provided An umbrella for Europe's nuclear weapons
The United States, Britain, France and other 12 countries signed the "North Atlantic Treaty" in Washington in 1949, which clearly stipulates that if one of the member states is attacked, it is regarded as an attack on all member states, reflecting the concept of "I am for everyone, everyone is for me". In the event of an armed attack, NATO members can send troops to defend themselves and restore and maintain security in the North Atlantic region.
The military organizational structure of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) was established after 1950 and the permanent presence of U.S. troops in Europe was planned, after which the supreme commander of the European Allied forces under NATO was the U.S. general.
The collapse of the Soviet Union and the eastward expansion of NATO
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the Warsaw Pact, a military alliance established to counter NATO, was dissolved. In 1999, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and other countries joined NATO. Even though Moscow warned NATO not to allow former Soviet unionists to join, NATO incorporated Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovakia in 2004. So far NATO has 30 members.
After the end of the Cold War, NATO's mandate expanded to combat counterterrorism and missile defense.
After the events of 9/11 in 2001, NATO, for the first time, exercised article 5 of the treaty as "mutual protection of members" and attacked Afghanistan in 2003, launching the first military operation outside Europe. In 2010, NATO launched the European Missile Defense System program, deploying the land-based missile interceptor system "Land-based Aegis" in Poland and Romania to counter the threat from Iran; this move deepened Russia's doubts about NATO's eastward expansion.
Russia fears that if Ukraine joins NATO with Georgia, another former Soviet union member, western allies and U.S. forces will be able to directly border Russia, and the military forces that NATO allies can mobilize will pose a homeland threat to Russia. But the United States and its allies adhere to NATO's principle of openness, reject Russia's demands, and continue to wrestle geopolitically.
NATO became the fuse of tension in Ukraine
Under the leadership of strongman Putin, Russia has become more and more tough. After the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis in 2014, NATO has deployed multinational combat forces in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, with a total strength of about 5,000 troops, led by the United States, Britain, Canada and Germany, and rotated by other NATO member states. According to statistics, NATO can mobilize nearly 3.5 million troops.
Ukrainian President Zelenskiy said that joining NATO can "guarantee national security" and wrote the EU and NATO into the constitution as the country's basic policy. But Putin warned that if Ukraine joins NATO, Russia will not rule out military action to defend national security. In response to the situation in Russia and Ukraine, the United States also sent additional troops to Poland and Romania.
However, 40% of the EU's natural gas demand depends on Russian imports, which has become Putin's chip to contain European powers and test the unity between NATO allies.
NATO members have their own agendas
In recent years, NATO's 30 member states have made different calculations. France has traditionally emphasized European autonomy, refused to be a vassal of the United States, and withdrew from NATO for more than 40 years, only to return to NATO in 2009. In 2018, Trump withdrew his troops from Syria without informing his allies in advance, and in 2019, Turkey purchased the S-400 air defense missile system from Russia, so angry that French President Macron criticized NATO's "brain death", all of which cast a shadow on the image of NATO's unity and cooperation.
In the face of Russia's armed threat and influence, NATO allies are facing more new challenges. Antoine Bondaz, a researcher at the French Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS), stressed in a previous interview that the foundations of NATO's relationship have not been questioned, that Europe still sees the United States as an indispensable partner for security, and that the alliance remains solid.