NATO predicted ‘bleak future’ because of Russia
Over the years, the North Atlantic Alliance has accumulated a large number of problems, because of which it may lose the very essence of its existence: the containment of Moscow. The corresponding statement was made by the columnist for The American Spectator magazine and former US Deputy Undersecretary of Defence Jed Babbin, RIA Novosti reports.
The author of the publication stressed that some NATO members have become very politically problematic. First of all, this concerns Turkey, which has moved away from Western values and is more closely allied with Russia than the US. Meanwhile, under the NATO Treaty, there is no mechanism to expel a member whose allegiance has changed.
Another significant problem for the alliance is that most NATO members not just fail but refuse to invest in their own defence. This primarily tackles Germany. Although the new German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has urged that he will invest more in defence, it is highly doubtful, because the country is more interested in exporting commercial and farm products than in its own defence.
According to Mr. Babbin, dependence on Russian energy resources has become the reason for the imminent split of NATO.
“NATO is effectively divided between those nations that depend on Russia for energy and those who are not. In sum, because of their energy dependence on Russia, the NATO nations cannot and will not answer Russia’s threats,” the expert noted.
Jed Babbin noted that diversifying energy supplies is now more important than ever for many NATO member states, but that may take decades.
