In an interview with the website of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, Sohrab Saadeddin referred to the final statement of the NATO summit in Spain, in which Russia was called a direct threat to that alliance, and said: In the previous NATO summit which was held in Lisbon, mechanisms for cooperation with Russia were discussed, especially in areas such as reduction of nuclear weapons, arms control and disarmament treaties, and the possibility of cooperation with Moscow was also examined, but at the Madrid summit, Russia was declared a direct inherent threat to the countries member in NATO and there was a consensus in this regard.
Saying that the issue of China was not discussed at the Lisbon summit, but at the Madrid summit, NATO identified China as one of its strategic priorities for the next decade and as a systemic rival, he noted: It seems that the US is using the opportunity to confront Russia and in the new cold war it started with China, has pulled Europe towards itself.
The expert on EU foreign policy emphasizing that the US is persistent in using the capacity of European countries against China and has taken commitments from them, said: Of course, to what extent those commitments will be implemented is another issue that can be analyzed in different ways; because in any case, European countries do not have much benefit in confronting China in the region of Southeast Asia and the South China Sea.
Saadeddin pointed to the US claims regarding the possibility of China’s attack on Taiwan and the necessity of restraining that country’s movements and trying to increase economic pressure against China, and continued: At the beginning of the Biden period, Europe signed a bilateral investment agreement with China, of course that agreement was never implemented, and was suspended a few months ago. Europe sought to establish an independent relationship with China and tried for it, but over time it distanced itself from that position. Now, after several years of dealing with defense and political independence issues, Europe has practically adopted the same compliance policies with the US and even follows such policy in relation to China.
He reminded: Before this, while Europe considered China as a partner, considered it as a systemic competitor, but now it only looks at China as a systemic competitor, and in the NATO statement, it stated in a harsh and clear language that China is trying to destroy the international order, including the rights of the seas, space and virtual space.
The analyst of Europe affairs, stating that with recent developments, NATO has returned to its original objectives, explained: NATO was initially an alliance for collective defense, whose members over time tried to find a reason for its existence by expanding its definition. Now NATO has returned to its original objectives. Of course, the concept of new defense includes broader concepts, such as cyber defense and electronic warfare.
Saadeddin said: In NATO meetings, we generally were witness to discussions related to the importance of the environment, but in the summit in Span, the issue was less discussed.
Saying that the NATO members in Madrid by signing accession protocols agreed with the joining of Finland and Sweden, and the NATO secretary general emphasized that the objective of the members is to complete the process of ratification of the membership as soon as possible, he added: With this development, out of eight countries member in the Arctic Council, seven countries have joined NATO, and practically NATO has opened a new front of confrontation with Russia in the Arctic, and this is a very important development.
The analyst of the EU foreign policy affairs pointed to NATO’s approval of the “New Strategic Concept Document” to guide the alliance’s political and military development for the next decade and noted: This document called Russia the most important and direct threat to NATO, while it previously called Russia a strategic partner. Based on the document, NATO announced that it will significantly strengthen deterrence and defense capabilities within the framework of collective defense for all its allies.
Saadeddin mentioned strengthening of flexibility and technological superiority of NATO on a national and collective scale as another objectives which were emphasized by the leaders of the military alliance in the Madrid meeting and said: In the Madrid meeting, efforts to gain access to space as well as cyber spaces in the technological dimension have been announced to be necessary for defense and deterrence and it was emphasized that cyber and space attacks could reach the level of an armed attack and lead to the implementation of NATO’s collective defense clause.
He considered the political and military development of NATO in the next decade as being very relevant to the outcome of the Ukraine war and added: Now the view of countries like France, Germany and Italy is that this crisis must end; because they are aware of the high costs they have to pay for issues such as security, energy, food, and immigration, and at the same time they are aware that Russia will be their own neighbor; but the US wants to use this opportunity to weaken Russia as much as possible. However, it seems unlikely that a direct military confrontation between NATO and Russia will take place in the next decade.
Stating that China’s first target in foreign policy is Taiwan, the analyst of Europe affairs said: The US is trying to strengthen NATO’s military presence in the South China Sea, but they will not form a direct confrontation. However, we may be witness to proxy wars in this region, and with those developments, the world has basically become more secure.