Sometimes things are worth calling by name. This is the case with NATO and its function in the modern world. We must say to ourselves: the continuation of this structure and the presence of Europe, including Poland, is simply a deadly threat to our continent.
And it does not mean any kind of rocking in the clouds, connected with the belief that here and now the emergence of an alliance led by the Anglo-Saxons is possible overnight. Let's be realistic. The current dependency structures be objectively and so find the form of the Polish political scene and the mainstream public debate, that there is no much point in counting on the fact that preaching even the most rational and best argued demands can change something.
Any geopolitical shifts will take place outside and over Warsaw without even a trace of its participation. In the present reality, therefore, it remains to watch closely the global changes and clashes of powers at the highest stake: the form of a fresh global order. The old man in front of us ends. fresh is amorphous. Most areas of our globe, like Poland, are deprived of their subjectivity. This is not fatalistic superstition, but this is the function of mediate and tiny countries, even though their political class is creating itself as demiurges of the transition.
In specified a period the most reasonable choice is distance. We're watching giants clash from a safe distance. Since we do not know where it will end, we effort not to stand on either side and, above all, not to burn any bridges. However, this attitude requires respective conditions, to which present Poland is unimaginably far away. Firstly, we must keep the ability to look at the situation soberly, and so have the information on which we can reasonably foretell developments. Secondly, we request to be aware of our own advantages, but besides our weaknesses, in order to be able to measure our impact on the course of events in the right proportions. Thirdly, we must avoid any ideology and emotion (sympathy, antipathy) due to the fact that they lead us astray from wishful-romantic thinking, and besides endanger to take steps leading to disaster. If we meet these conditions, we may even be tempted to act as an crucial mediator, a bridge or a channel of communication between large players. tiny countries have been able to derive disproportionately large benefits from this role. It's not our case. You gotta have sense and diplomacy.
But let's go back to NATO. The North Atlantic Alliance, as the architect of the leading Cold War strategies spoke of for the remainder of his days, George Kennan, should have been self-solved with the collapse of the russian Union and the disintegration of the east bloc. His first function then definitely ended. Instead, NATO has turned into an aggressive assault block that is the Anglo-Saxon instrument. It served to instigate bloody wars in all parts of the world. He made an expansion, the effects of which were predestined. It must have brought a confrontation, including the most bloody and tragic, which is an open armed conflict.
A summary of NATO's function over the last 3 decades leads to a reasonably apparent conclusion: Poland should not have joined the alliance in 1999, despite all democratic rules. Europe, on the another hand, should put itself on its own defensive capabilities and not accept the function of building an aggressive Anglo-Saxon alliance. Time can't be reversed. However, the geopolitical course of events took on an extraordinary acceleration. Under these conditions we must be mentally, conceptually ready to imagine Poland without NATO. For now, the alliance is expanding. In the coming years, however, it may go bankrupt, with the collapse of the hegemonic ambitions of its American propulsion force. We must remember that there is life outside NATO, and it is much more peaceful, safe, stable. And we must not let the arsonists of the planet to pour gasoline into the fire of our burning European home today. Therefore, let us have the courage to reflect. Think of Poland without / after NATO. Not to wake up erstwhile we're the last hostages to old reasoning on our continent.
Mateusz Piskorski
photo public domain
Think Poland, No. 15-16 (9-16.04.201023)
