A Last Gasp of a Dying Empire – NATO Summit: When Crashes, The EU Goes Down with it!

Seth Ferris

Needless to say, the main target of the ire of NATO members was the Russian Federation, which we are supposed to believe is both on the verge of collapse thanks to the SMO in Ukraine, but also about to launch a full-scale invasion of NATO countries despite the fact it is “not winning” in Ukraine. Quite how they square this circle, I have no idea, but we have to remember that the members of NATO and the EU are not exactly what you would call rational these days.

The NATO summit was a failure, despite the outward show of “unity”, particularly in the form of agreement on all members spending a staggering 5% of GDP on defense. It should be remembered that the same members all agreed on a minimum of 2% in 2006, and spectacularly failed to do so.

Add to this the various dodges that member states will use to calculate “defense spending” including counting pensions for former service personnel, social spending, aid to Ukraine (both military and humanitarian), spending on road and rail links, and a whole host of other sleights of hand card tricks, and it is blatantly obvious that the 5% target is about as likely to be met as a cow jumping over the moon.

In addition, it was interesting to see how Zelensky was sidelined, and no mention made of Ukraine joining NATO except a handful of bilateral (and non-binding) statements by some member states. Could it be that NATO has finally understood what Ukraine joining would mean?

Perhaps, but given major European member states’ individual commitments to Ukraine, this is unlikely, it is more likely that this was done in deference to Trump, and that Democrat aligned members are waiting (and praying) for a return of the Democrats to power, where Ukraine would be quickly pulled into NATO, with disastrous results for both itself and Europe.

It is also interesting to note that NATO completely avoided another issue in its self-proclaimed “sphere of influence” that of Israeli genocide against the Palestinians, and its unprovoked attacks, along with the US, on Iran. Funnily enough, the US justification for striking Iran is also able to be used by Russia to justify the SMO, and with far better reason. It is also an object lesson for Russia that diplomacy with the US, and by extension with NATO and the EU is a dead end, with the US and Europe being not only unreliable, but completely dishonest.

And this not only affects Russia, but also NATO itself, as Trump said on Air Force One that article five is a matter of interpretation saying it “depends on your definition” which should have NATO members staying awake at night, especially given the Baltic Chihuahuas deliberate baiting of Russia through oppression of their significant Russian-speaking minorities (sound familiar?)

What could this portend in practice? It may be something like the US deciding to keep sea lanes open to allow for delivery of weapons purchased by European members of NATO, but refusing to take part with boots on the ground or planes in the sky. It could be that the US might look at the actions of member states leading up to any such attack, and decide they brought it on themselves (looking at you, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, as well as new encumbrance, I mean member, Finland) causing NATO to collapse if article five is not enacted.

The fact that one of the supposed achievements of The Hague NATO summit is the rather strained “confirmation” of article five is more a case of NATO members trying to convince themselves, rather than something to be celebrated. The fact it needs to be restated at all shows the widening gap between members, especially caused by those who think that NATO membership gives them carte blanche to needle Russia.

Then there is what we can call the “cringe” factor of proceedings, with the NATO secretary general Mark Rutte (who is so far into the closet, he’s practically reached Narnia) calling Trump “daddy”during a true cringe inducing moment of the summit, something which Trump seemed to enjoy, the exchange starting with Trump saying:

“They’ve had a big fight, like two kids in a school yard. They fight like hell, you can’t stop them. Let them fight for about two, three minutes, then it’s easier to stop them,”

To which Rutte replied:

“Daddy has to sometimes use strong language.”

I think his Freudian slip is showing…….

Trump later stated, “I think he likes me. ‘Daddy, you’re my daddy,’” not exactly a show of statesmanlike discourse, we can all agree, but I am sure it will appeal to the MAGA crowd.

Needless to say, rather than stopping when he had the chance, Rutte attempted to explain away the use of the term, and only proceeded to dig himself in deeper with this gem:

“The daddy thing, I didn’t call him ‘daddy,’” Rutte told reporters later in the day. “What I said is that sometimes, in Europe, I hear sometimes countries saying, ‘Hey, Mark, will the U.S. stay with us?’ And I said that sounds a little bit like a small child asking his daddy, ‘Hey, are you still staying with the family?’ So in that sense, I used ‘daddy’ — not that I was calling President Trump daddy.”

Of course, Mark, we believe you……

If NATO goes down, Europe goes with it, and it is the same the other way around. What will come first, the Baltic Republics and Finland provoking Russia beyond reason, igniting a war, or the collapse of European economies under the strain of an arms race they don’t have the industrial or financial capacity to compete in?

Europe has a choice, maintain its generous social spending, or cut what keeps most European families heads above water to face a threat of their own making? Talk about a devil’s own choice.

What is plainly obvious to anyone watching is that NATO is really just a fig leaf for the American Empire, with none of the other members capable of individual, or even collective, action without the United States leading the charge (and providing most of the muscle), and the European members have been forced to kowtow to the new Roman Emperor, the question is, is it Augustus or Nero because it certainly isn’t Constantine the Great.

Disastrous NATO Summit

Dr. Gilbert Doctorow, from Brussels, during a recent talk program and addressees the disaster NATO Summit and talked about the future of the military block. It should already be cleared that now that Russia has regained full control of its Luhansk Region, and it is advancing on all fronts, that NATO has lost its proxy war. It is clear that it is going to be transformed, however, into what is open to debate.

NATO, it must be said, long ago ceased to function as a defensive alliance. Its expansionist ambitions, relentless eastward push, and willingness to override international law have left it with blood on its hands — and not just in one or two conflicts. From the illegal bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, a clear violation of the UN Charter, to the catastrophes it helped unleash in Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, and beyond, NATO’s track record is marred by interventionism, failed state-building and moral ambiguity and lack of collective focus.

The recent summit only highlighted how far the alliance has drifted. Rather than addressing these past failures or charting a course for peace, leaders opted to double down on military spending. Billions more have been committed to defense budgets — a move that, while painted as solidarity, conveniently reduces the U.S. financial burden. In reality, this may have always been the plan, on the part of the Trump administration. The transactional nature of NATO has been amplified under Donald Trump, who has never hidden his disdain for what he calls an “obsolete” organization

NRA Gun Show for Europeans

The alliance is less a shared security umbrella and more a gun show for the US military-industrial complex. This rebranding of NATO serves several purposes. It feeds the U.S. war economy, keeps European states militarily dependent, and ensures that the U.S. retains leverage over its so-called allies. Meanwhile, conflicts like the war in Ukraine are prolonged rather than resolved, as NATO continues to play the role of backdoor belligerent — arming one side while claiming to champion peace. So, what is the endgame?

Multiple scenarios are unfolding at once: 

Starting with a controlled disintegration, not likely but needed, especially as internal divisions deepen, NATO may gradually fragment. Already, a “European Defense Union” independent of Washington’s influence is already being whispered in Brussels.  This brings us back to an Orwellian Continuous War Economy, and NATO persists, however, not as a peacekeeper, but as a justification for endless conflict, surveillance, and spending — a military apparatus in search of new enemies.

With BRICS+ rising and the Global South seeking new alliances, NATO is increasingly viewed outside the West as a relic of a fading unipolar order.  Rather than engage directly, NATO may devolve into a structure for managing proxy wars in strategic zones — Ukraine, Taiwan, perhaps the Balkans again. NATO’s original purpose was to deter war, not wage it.

But today, many see it as a source of instability rather than security. Its ability to impose order has been replaced by its role in spreading chaos — often under the guise of humanitarianism or democracy promotion. As more money is funneled into national defense budgets, and as leaders scramble to prove their commitment to an increasingly obsolete alliance, the public must ask:

Who truly benefits from NATO’s continued existence? Is it the people of member states — or the elites and industries that profit from perpetual war?

The time for reckoning has come. NATO may not vanish overnight, but its legitimacy is crashing and burning, Whether this slow-motion collapse leads to a new order based on genuine collective security — or simply the next phase of militarized empire — remains to be seen.

Seth Ferris, investigative journalist and political scientist, expert on Middle Eastern affairs

https://journal-neo.su/2025/07/10/a-last-gasp-of-a-dying-empire-nato-summit-when-crashes-the-eu-goes-down-with-it/

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