By Gao Qiao

高乔

The navies of several NATO members are holding a large-scale joint exercise at the Pacific and the Mediterranean Sea in November, and five aircraft carriers, multiple escort warships, and thousands of troops from American, British, French and Italian navies have already assembled for that, according to the report of Groupe Radio France Internationale (RFI). The aircraft carriers will participate in subjects such as anti-submarine combat and air combat, deck-to-deck plane transfer, and replenishment-at-sea. Following the nuclear deterrence exercise in October, NATO’s November exercise involving several members’ aircraft carriers aims to showcase their elite naval strengths and flex muscles to Russia again.

据法国国际广播电台网站近日报道，北约多国海军在11月于大西洋和地中海举行大规模联合演习，目前已汇集了美国、英国、法国、意大利4国海军的5艘航母以及众多护航军舰和数千名海军。航母活动将包括反潜作战和空战演习、甲板对甲板的飞机转移和海上补给等科目。继10月北约进行核威慑军演之后，北约此次集结多国航母，展现海军“精锐”，再次向俄罗斯示强。

It is learned that it's the first time that America’s most advanced carrier USS Gerald R. Ford participates in a real-combat mission. NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu said the arrangement demonstrated their ability to project forces across the alliance and quickly assist allies, while Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh lauded the action as providing an opportunity for the allies to coordinate their key combat forces in the Europe-Atlantic region and showcase NATO’s cohesion.

据悉，此次军演是美国海军当前最先进的航母——“福特”号首次参与实战部署。北约发言人瓦娜•伦杰斯库表示，相关部署“表明我们有能力在整个联盟中投射力量并迅速增援盟国”。美国五角大楼发言人萨布丽娜•辛格则表示：“这些行动为盟国协调整个欧洲—大西洋地区的关键战斗力提供了机会，同时展示了北约的凝聚力。”

Ever since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out, NATO has organized constant military exercises and largely increased deployments in Europe to accelerate its military build-up.

俄乌冲突以来，北约不仅频频开展军事演习，还大力增强欧洲军力部署，加速壮大北约军事力量。

“The Russia-Ukraine conflict is at a subtle moment now. On the one hand, the two conflicting parties are entering a stalemate; on the other hand, the risk of escalation is on the rise. Against such a background, NATO’s aircraft carrier ‘gathering’ to flex its maritime combat muscles carries a strong message – to reinforce solidarity internally and enhance deterrence against Russia externally,” said Cui Hongjian, Department for European Studies, China Institute of International Studies.

“当前，俄乌冲突正处于较为微妙的时期，一方面，俄乌双方对峙状态正在形成；另一方面，双方冲突升级风险在上升。在此背景下，北约举行‘航母集会’，集中展现北约海上作战实力，背后意味很明显——对内加强团结，对外加强对俄威慑。”中国国际问题研究院欧洲研究所所长崔洪建表示。

“The US is playing a leading role in NATO’s series of moves,” said Zhang Jian, Assistant President and director of the Institute of European Studies, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations. NATO has always been an important tool for the US to control Europe and dominate the world. By organizing constant military exercises and egging Europe to buy American weapons and equipment, the US wants to enhance its military integration with Europe and incorporate the latter’s military building and weaponry development into its own global strategy.

“在北约的系列行动中，美国始终扮演主导角色，”中国现代国际关系研究院院长助理、欧洲研究所所长张健认为。北约一直是美国控制欧洲、谋求全球霸权的重要工具。通过接连不断的军演、鼓动欧洲采购美国军事装备等方式，美国加强其与欧洲在军事方面的一体化，将欧洲的军事建设和军备发展统一于美国的全球战略之下。

According to Cui, the US, using the Russia-Ukraine conflict as an excuse, has kept pushing its strategic deployments on NATO. For one thing, it has made a quasi-military mobilization in NATO to raise its war preparedness and military capability to a new level, thus having a more handy tool to control just how secure it needs Europe to be. Right now NATO’s attitude toward the Russia-Ukraine conflict is basically in line with what the US has in mind. For another, to achieve its strategic goals, America is seeking some kind of power balance within NATO – controlling the radical views of the hawks represented by Central and Eastern European countries while stimulating the doves represented by Germany and France to play a bigger part. It has also been cranking up its strategic superiority over Russia by coordinating diplomatic approaches with military deployments.

崔洪建也指出，俄乌冲突发生后，美国借俄乌局势不断推进其对北约的战略部署。一方面，美国借俄乌冲突对北约实现准军事动员，将北约的战备和军力提高到新水平，使北约成为更好的工具，帮助美国掌控欧洲安全度。当前，北约对俄乌冲突的态度基本符合美国的目标。另一方面，美国为实现其战略目标，也在北约内部寻找力量平衡，既要控制中东欧国家为代表的强硬派的激进观点，又要刺激和鼓动德国、法国为代表的温和派发挥更多作用。此外，美国还通过外交手段和军事部署的协调配合，加强对俄罗斯的战略优势。

Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu recently said in public that NATO’s current military activities have reached a level never seen before since the end of the Cold War, posing mounting threats to Russia and aggravating regional tension. When speaking of certain Eastern European countries’ plans to have American troops stationed on their soil permanently, Shoigu said Russia would be forced to take countermeasures in that case.

俄罗斯国防部长绍伊古近日公开表示，目前北约军事活动达到了冷战结束后前所未有的高水平，对俄罗斯的军事威胁日渐增强，这加剧了地区紧张局势。谈到有东欧国家打算在本国长期部署美国军队时，绍伊古说，这种情况下俄罗斯将被迫采取回应措施。

According to Zhang Jian, given the sluggish economy worldwide, all countries are under great pressure to recover economic growth, and Europe in particular is troubled by a mixture of energy shortage, high inflation, and roaring living cost. In this context, NATO’s constant massive military drills, which are intended to forge cohesion internally and flex muscles to deter Russia externally, only serve to entrench the NATO-Russia hostility, increase the risk of exacerbating their conflict, and possibly drive its escalation and spread, thus forming a vicious cycle. That is no good either for solving the conflict or for facilitating peaceful development in Europe and the world.

张健认为，当前，全球经济下行，各国承担着恢复经济发展的沉重压力，欧洲更是面临能源短缺、通货膨胀、居民生活成本飙升等多重危机。在此背景下，北约频繁举办大规模军演，企图通过内部“秀亲密”、对俄“秀肌肉”加强对俄威慑，向俄罗斯传递对抗信息，实际上加深了北约与俄罗斯之间的敌意，增加双方矛盾激化的可能性，加剧俄乌冲突升级蔓延的风险，形成恶性循环。这既不利于解决俄乌冲突，也损害了欧洲乃至世界的和平发展进程。

Editor's note: Originally published on paper.people.com.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.