By Wang Zhongkui，Yuan Qilu, Liu Sizheng

Sweden and Finland, two internationally recognized permanently neutral countries，recently broke with tradition and declared their decisions to apply for the membership of NATO, a US-led alliance which has repeatedly labeled itself defensive.

On May 11, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, "NATO is a defensive alliance. NATO poses no threat to anyone." NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also claimed that NATO is “not to provoke a conflict, but to prevent conflict and to preserve peace”.

Has NATO really been able to maintain the peace as they claim? The reality turns out that this may not be the case.

"They try to appease Russia, as they have done before, on the grounds that NATO is a peaceful, strictly defensive alliance. Whether it is true or not, the people of many countries have been able to learn from experience,” said Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I'm thinking of Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and the massive operation against Belgrade without the approval of UN Security Council. That's a far cry from what a peace organization would do." And Russian Press Secretary Peskov also pointed out that NATO just claimed to be a defensive organization. “But, you know, a Kalashnikov assault rifle is still an assault rifle no matter how you use it,” he said. The same is true of NATO. NATO was designed and created to be aggressive, and it was structured accordingly. It's an organization designed to be aggressive.

In light of subsequent historical events, NATO proved to be nothing but an aggression bloc.

Maintaining the peace by waging one war after another?

In 1949, the U.S. brought together some European countries to establish NATO in the name of "collective defense". After the end of the Cold War, NATO did not cease to exist, but instead has extended its armed provocation and military intervention to many places around the world, causing huge casualties and humanitarian disasters.

On April 24, 1999, the NATO Washington Summit adopted a new Strategic Concept for the Alliance, which proposes to address the security problems of the 21st century not only through military measures, but also through a broad range of instruments in the political, economic, social and environmental fields. This marks the beginning of NATO's transformation into an "interventionist" and "expansionist" political-military group. Since the Kosovo war, none of the wars NATO waged has been authorized by the United Nations, and in fact each of them is a war of aggression against the related sovereign state.

On May 6, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian responded to NATO-related questions, saying that NATO claims to be a defensive organization, but in fact it has repeatedly violated international law and wantonly waged war against sovereign states, undermining global and regional peace, and killing and displacing a large number of innocent civilians. In its blind pursuit of “absolute security”, NATO engaged in five consecutive waves of eastward expansion after the end of the Cold War, which did not make Europe safer, but rather sowed the seed of conflict between Russia and Ukraine, reigniting conflict on the European continent.

War in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The war between the three major ethnic groups of Bosnia and Herzegovina over the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the division of its territory marked the first time that NATO took the initiative to conduct foreign military intervention operations, setting a bad precedent.

Kosovo War

It was directly triggered by the ethnic conflicts in Kosovo and incited by the U.S.-led NATO, which took place at the end of the 20thcentury. During the war, NATO forces, led by the U.S., brazenly bombed Chinese embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Three Chinese news reporters were killed on the spot and dozens of people were seriously wounded.

Afghanistan War

After 9/11, the U.S. launched a military strike against Afghanistan under the pretext of supporting terrorism, and NATO participated in the Multi-National Security Force (MNSF). While supporting the new Afghan government and providing training for the Afghan National Army, the U.S. directly participated in some combat operations against the Taliban and other groups.

Iraq War

In March 2003, the U.S. bypassed the UN Security Council on the grounds that Iraq was hiding weapons of mass destruction and secretly supporting terrorists, assembled a joint force, mainly British and American troops, and carried out a unilateral military strike against Iraq.

Libya Civil War

In February 2011, armed conflict broke out between Libya's Gaddafi government and anti-government factions, followed by French air strikes against the former Libyan government forces from March 19. Multinational coalition forces, composed mainly of the U.S. and the U.K., initiated air strikes on March 20 that lasted until October. The war in Libya left more than 6,000 people dead and nearly 150,000 homeless. It has devastated oil fields, causing oil exports to fall, and people's incomes dropped to one-third of what they were a decade ago. It has wrecked hospitals, and infectious diseases ravaged the country. And it has destroyed water projects, and people have to walk for miles for water to drink. Libya has downgraded from a medium developed country with an urbanized population of 73% to an underdeveloped and poor country.

A study of these wars in which NATO has been involved reveals that, first, all the wars have been waged against sovereign states; second, none of them can show that NATO plays a defensive role; third, the countries invaded by NATO have suffered a lot of casualties, refugees and economic regression for many years; and fourth, the purpose of all wars is to serve the selfish interests of NATO or certain countries.

A defensive organization that keeps expanding eastward and making provocation

After World War II, the U.S. initiated the NATO military bloc in order to contain the Soviet Union and maintain its dominant position in Europe. It can be said that from its inception, NATO has carried the gene of confrontation.

The 1990s saw the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, but not the dismantlement of NATO, which has continued to expand eastward under the U.S. instigation and push, instead of ceasing to exist. By 2020, NATO has undergone five rounds of eastern expansion, with member countries increased from 16 to 30, together with a number of partner countries. Defensive as it has claimed, NATO has become bigger and bigger, and meanwhile closer and closer to Moscow.

Is that reasonable to approach Moscow step by step with sophisticated weaponry on one hand, and claim to defend against the threat from Kremlin on the other? Isn't every step eastward an act of provoking Russia? Just like when you surround your neighbor's house with a fence, does it become a reason to infringe your property when he goes out and touches your fence? Such a fence around your neighbor's house can hardly be called a defense but an offense.

NATO keeps expanding towards Russia's doorstep, sowing the seeds of the current crisis in Ukraine. Recently, it has been trying to instigate Sweden and Finland into the pact, an act of de facto forcing Russia into corner step by step. Pope Francis recently said bluntly that, it was "NATO's barking at Russia's doorstep" that angered Russia and eventually led to the flames of war.

The U.S. has been the mastermind behind NATO, whose initial purpose is to confront the Warsaw Pact. From the nature of NATO, it is a military organization intended for confrontation and conflict. Since the German reunification in 1990, NATO has embarked the non-stop expansion despite the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact. While engaging in strategic deception, NATO flexed military muscles where it could, such as in Kosovo, and even sent clear signals of expansion in the direction of Asia-Pacific. In the NATO 2030 reform program, NATO defines Australia, Japan, ROK and New Zealand as "long-term partners in the Asia-Pacific", and explicitly seeks further development and cooperation partnership on a global scale.

NATO has not only attempted to encompass Sweden and Finland as the sixth round of eastern expansion, but also initiated intensive interactions with Asia-Pacific countries such as Japan and ROK to cobble the Asia-Pacific version of NATO with the intentions to endanger world peace, which deserves the vigilance and attention of the peace-loving people all over the world.

A tool of U.S. invasion and attack

In the face of the bloody truth, the so-called "peace and defense" slogan preached by the U.S.-led NATO is nothing but a blatant lie. The international community has come to realize that the U.S.-led NATO poses a serious threat to world security and stability and undermines international justice.

On January 9, Russia's First Deputy Representative to the United Nations Polyansky commented that if NATO could still define itself as a "defense-oriented alliance" during the Cold War because of the existence of the Warsaw Pact, now that the Warsaw Pact has ceased to exist, NATO's identity has long since changed from defensive to offensive alliance.

According to Professor Glenn Diesen of the University of Southeast Norway, the world has moved towards multi-polarization, while NATO defines itself as an "eternal power". In the context of NATO hegemony, invasion has been hailed as "humanitarian intervention," coup d'état as "democratic revolution," regime subversion as "democracy promotion," gunboat diplomacy as "freedom of navigation", torture as "enhanced interrogation techniques", military bloc expansion as "European integration", domination as "negotiation from a position of strength", whereas Russia's demand for NATO’s guarantee not to expand has never the less been accused of "infringement on democracy and sovereignty".

According to Shukran Doğan, head of the Turkish Labor Party in Ankara province, it is clear from history that NATO has been involved in almost all wars and conflicts. It is an undeniable fact that NATO is a war organization. U.S. has waged wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and many other countries in order to grab profits and achieve its own aims, leading to the displacement and death of a large number of innocent civilians, which the U.S. hasn’t spared cares about their sufferings. "The U.S. is an imperialist country and NATO is the very tool of invasion and attack in the hands of the U.S.," said Professor Barış Doster from Turkey's Marmara University.

Editor's note: The authors are with the National University of Defense Technology of Chinese PLA. The article reflects the authors' opinions and not necessarily those of China Military.