Prophetic Intelligence Briefings
Is NATO Finished? · October 22, 2008
The recent Russian invasion of Georgia has led to the meaninglessness of NATO. Germany, according to Stratfor, a business intelligence and forecasting source, told Russia that it will not support the expansion of NATO to include Georgia or Ukraine. This is significant because NATO was designed to oppose the Soviet Union. Though the U.S. and Britain have pushed for NATO expansion, it is not going to happen without Germany since any decision of NATO is by consensus. The reason Germany opposes the expansion of NATO according to Stratfor is because Germany does not want to be caught in the middle between a resurgent and militarized Russia, and opposing western interests as it was for centuries while disunited.
Today’s united Germany is very concerned about national security. Germany is a large trading partner with Russia, especially in natural gas. In fact it is vulnerable to Russian arm twisting. But Germany also now has strong economic ties with France and other western nations that it doesn’t want to jeopardize. Because of the European Union, today’s united Germany has a strong economic position which it does not want to destabilize by another Cold War between Russia and the United States.
Consequently NATO is now paralyzed. If Germany supports the expansion of NATO as the United States and Britain want, then it risks alienating Russia, which could have dire consequences, given Germany’s current vulnerabilities. On the other hand, if Germany opposes NATO expansion, it isn’t likely that there would be serious consequences from western interests because the United States is occupied in Iraq and Afghanistan, and does not want another Cold War either.
So Germany told Russia that it opposes the expansion of NATO. Since Russia has already demonstrated its military intentions concerning these two nations, NATO nations realize that bringing Georgia and Ukraine into NATO would require a military commitment, something no one wants. Germany doesn’t want militarization against Russia because of her energy dependence on Russia among other things. This step by Germany effectively makes NATO an organization that mainly issues proclamations. It has no teeth, or real military power anymore because Germany wants a reasonable relationship with Russia.
How will this affect Rome and the Holy See’s ambition to restore her power over Europe in a resurrected Holy Roman Empire? Actually, this could well play into the hands of Rome. Rome is working hard on its ecumenical relationship with the Orthodox Church in Russia and other nations that were once in the soviet orbit. A political stalemate could well provide opportunities for religious divisions to diminish. After all, political calm provides a more stable environment so that the process of religious unity can proceed.
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