East Asian countries must jointly reject the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to the Pacific, Singapore daily The Straits recently reported. Times.
In an article titled “Asia, Say No to NATO” and published last Friday, Kishore Mahbubani, senior researcher at the Asian Research Institute of the National University of Singapore, wrote that NATO has identified China as a “systemic challenge” in the zones “linked to the security of the alliance” in its press release published at the end of a meeting held in Brussels several weeks ago.
This implicit message clearly indicates that NATO would like to extend its tentacles towards the Pacific.
“All of us who live close to the Pacific Ocean, especially in East Asia, must be deeply concerned. If NATO arrives in the Pacific, it will only bring us problems,” he warned.
First, NATO is not a “geopolitically wise organization,” said Mahbubani. She destabilized Europe by desperately seeking new missions, after completing her own during the Cold War 30 years ago.
Second, NATO’s actions reflect the old adage: “If your only tool is a hammer, all problems will look like nails to you.” Since the end of the Cold War, NATO has bombed many countries, and many of these bombings were illegal under international law.
Third, East Asia has developed. In the 30 years since the end of the Cold War, no bomb has been dropped anywhere in this region, he said.
“This is, therefore, the greatest danger we face with NATO’s expansion (…) to the Pacific,” he concluded.
“It risks exporting its disastrous militaristic culture to the relatively peaceful environment we have developed in East Asia,” the expert added.