On July 1, the Valdai Club held an expert discussion on the results of the NATO summit and the new strategic concept of the alliance. The discussion was moderated by Andrey Sushentsov, Programme Director of the Valdai Club, Dean of the Faculty of International Relations at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO). The participants discussed the new strategic concept of the alliance, the change in its ideological underpinnings, as well as the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO and Turkey’s response to this process.
Alexander Grushko, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, noted that the results of the NATO summit will still be subjected to a thorough analysis both from a political and military point of view. Speaking about his impressions, he called the Madrid summit ”the most predictable in the history of the alliance”, adding that in Madrid the organisation had ”completed an evolutionary somersault in its development and returned to its roots, that is, to the military security schemes of the Cold War”. He also stressed that now the alliance is declaring a threat to the very existence of Russia as a state, and confrontation with Russia on all fronts using all tools is becoming a new NATO ideology. ”The vector of NATO’s military activity is predetermined – it is the threat from the east, it is the containment of Russia,” the diplomat summed up.
Gregory Simons, author and researcher from Uppsala, Sweden, has analysed the situation surrounding Sweden and Finland joining NATO. He noted that in the 21st century, these countries have actually broken with their traditions of neutrality and non-alignment and switched to the idea of integration with NATO. According to him, in order to achieve this, the political elite has to overcome public scepticism by tapping its fears. “Sweden and Finland have joined the ideological project based on a unipolar world, integrating ever deeper into Western-centric institutions,” Simons said. They want to be members of this exclusive club. As a result, these countries voluntarily give up the role of subjects in international relations and become objects, he added. Läs artikel
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