Yes indeed, they’re part of NATO now, thanks for highlighting that positive development. Any step that can be taken against the russian dictatorship is a good one.
NATO is “defensive” like the IDF is. It’s defensive of imperialist countries that export capital to super-exploit the global south, preventing any backlash from reaching the imperial core. The difference between NATO and the Alliance of Sahel States, for example, is that the countries banding together in NATO all benefit from imperialism, while the Sahel States are banding together to kick out imperialists. Both are millitary alliances, but one is highly reactionary while the other is progressive.
Sure, I guess if you want an invasion of the West to work it’s a bad thing.
The IDF isn’t a fair comparison. They do a whole lot of stuff, unlike NATO which mainly prepares, and much of it does not meet the standard of defence to anyone’s satisfaction but Israel and maybe the US.
Well, that’s a natural place to end, but I’m curious. What would global socialism look like, according to you? If some regional national group wants do do something very not socialist, like I dunno, forced marriages, are they stopped, or allowed to? And what about groups that are almost but not quite a nation, like you tend to find anywhere with a long history?
Progressive movements are to be supported, reactionary movements are to be opposed. If a regional group wishes to, say, reinstate capitalism or feudalism, then this is to be corrected as bloodlessly as is feasible. Impulses towards reaction fade over time as socialism solidifies, but they definitely exist for at least a few generations after socialism is established.
National liberation is a pre-requisite for socialism, only then do borders begin to fade. In the interim, an internationalist federation of socialist polities would exist.
Imperialism is the monopoly stage of capitalism defined by the export of finance capital, super-exploitation of subjugated nations, and unequal exchange enforced by state power. NATO was not founded to protect democracy but to secure the geopolitical conditions for Western capital to extract surplus value. The narrative of defending freedom is merely a facade to obscure this class function.
The alliance institutionalized a transatlantic arms market guaranteeing demand for Western arms manufacturers, facilitating finance capital export while enforcing Euro-American hegemony. It standardizes military procurement to ensure profits flow back to core industries, maintaining the superiority required to enforce unequal exchange rates and resource extraction abroad. This is the material function of the organization beyond the rhetoric.
History disproves the democratic pretense immediately. Portugal was a founding member while under a fascist dictatorship, using NATO logistics to wage colonial wars in Africa. France and Belgium, also founders, were violently enforcing colonial rule in Algeria and the Congo at the alliance’s formation. NATO coordinated with these regimes to protect imperial property relations, proving it exists to enforce the global hierarchy that makes super-exploitation possible.
Yes, the famous capitalist society of Ancient Rome.
No, mate. Imperialism is the maintaining and extending of power over foreign nations. NATO does nothing like that.
NATO was not founded to protect democracy but to secure the geopolitical conditions for Western capital to extract surplus value
Ah, OK, so you have no clue what NATO is, got it.
The alliance institutionalized a transatlantic arms market guaranteeing demand for Western arms manufacturers
Where else would the West be buying weapons during the Cold War? Russia? :D
History disproves the democratic pretense immediately
Yeah, because NATO had nothing to do with democracy. Like, what pretence? Where the fuck did you even get that from? Maybe, I don’t know, read the Wiki entry on NATO?
Ancient Rome was an empire. Modern imperialism is a specific stage of capitalist development: export of finance capital, monopoly concentration, unequal exchange enforced by state power. Mixing them up isn’t a gotcha, it just shows complete illiteracy in the realm of political theory.
You dodged the Portugal point entirely. Fascist dictatorship, founding NATO member, using alliance supply chains to wage colonial war in Africa. France and Belgium same deal. If NATO was about “democracy,” how does that fit? Or do we just ignore the actual history?
And on your “buy weapons from Russia?” joke: the USSR applied to join NATO in 1954. They were rejected. The whole point was to have a permanent external threat to justify massive arms spending, lock in Western defense contracts, and discipline allied capitals.
Also wikipedia isn’t a neutral source on US-led institutions. It’s edited by volunteers, heavily influenced by Western narratives, and routinely policed for “fringe” critiques of state power. Citing it as the final word on NATO is like citing a Pentagon press release and calling it independent journalism.
If the argument is just “NATO good because wiki says so,” then yeah, we’re not having the same conversation. But if you want to engage in actual analysis and conversation like an adult, as opposed to shouting talking points ad nauseum like a petulant child I’m all for that.
Modern imperialism is a specific stage of capitalist development: export of finance capital, monopoly concentration
OK, if you mean “imperialism via specifically means of economic pressure”, sure, call it “modern imperialism” or something.
But “imperialism” is what I already said it is. Britain was pushing imperialist agendas before capitalism was a thing. Same with China, Japan, Spain, russia, Germany, France, etc., etc.
You dodged the Portugal point entirely. Fascist dictatorship, founding NATO member, using alliance supply chains to wage colonial war in Africa. France and Belgium same deal. If NATO was about “democracy,” how does that fit? Or do we just ignore the actual history?
I didn’t dodge it. I answered it specifically - you have no clue what NATO is. NATO has nothing to do with what political system is running in a member country. It’s a military alliance. Has nothing to do with democracy.
And on your “buy weapons from Russia?” joke: the USSR applied to join NATO in 1954. They were rejected. The whole point was to have a permanent external threat to justify massive arms spending, lock in Western defense contracts, and discipline allied capitals.
“The murderer asked to be let in the house. He was rejected”.
Stop gobbling up russian propaganda. The threat was USSR. They were the ones who sent tanks to suppress the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and the 1968 Prague Spring. They were the ones who subjugated the conquered countries, and attempted russifying them.
NATO is a defensive pact against that aggression. Members consist only and specifically of countries that asked to join, nobody was forced.
Also wikipedia isn’t a neutral source on US-led institutions. It’s edited by volunteers, heavily influenced by Western narratives, and routinely policed for “fringe” critiques of state power. Citing it as the final word on NATO is like citing a Pentagon press release and calling it independent journalism.
Then how about you just open your eyes to what’s going on in the world. Show me ONE instance of NATO sending tanks to suppress an independence movement in a country.
If the argument is just “NATO good because wiki says so,”
No, the argument is “NATO good because they don’t subjugate or attempt genocide”
But if you want to engage in actual analysis and conversation like an adult, as opposed to shouting talking points ad nauseum like a petulant child I’m all for that.
Oh, look, you’re already nearing the point of flinging personal attacks? One even say: “like a petulant child”? I guess discussion is difficult when you’re arguing against reality.
“Modern imperialism is a specific stage of capitalist development… OK, if you mean ‘imperialism via specifically means of economic pressure’, sure, call it ‘modern imperialism’ or something. But ‘imperialism’ is what I already said it is. Britain was pushing imperialist agendas before capitalism was a thing.”
Again imperialism isn’t just “strong countries pushing weaker ones around.” That’s a surface description, not an analysis. The modern form is structural: monopoly control of capital, export of finance rather than just goods, and a global system where wealth flows upward from subjugated economies to core powers through enforced unequal exchange. Pre-capitalist empires extracted tribute; this system extracts surplus value through debt, trade terms, and military backing. Conflating the two isn’t a rebuttal, it’s just avoiding the actual analysis of the mechanism.
“I didn’t dodge it. I answered it specifically - you have no clue what NATO is. NATO has nothing to do with what political system is running in a member country. It’s a military alliance. Has nothing to do with democracy.”
Then why does the treaty’s preamble commit members to “safeguarding the freedom and common heritage of democratic peoples”? Why were “democratic reforms” mandatory for post-Cold War expansion? You can’t dismiss the values rhetoric when it’s useful, then hide behind “just a military alliance” when the Portugal contradiction hits. Fascist Portugal proved the priority: strategic alignment and capital protection over any real commitment to self-determination.
“The USSR applied to join NATO in 1954. They were rejected. ‘The murderer asked to be let in the house. He was rejected’. Stop gobbling up russian propaganda. The threat was USSR.”
The USSR applied to test whether NATO was about collective defense or containing any state outside Western capital’s orbit. The rejection confirmed the latter. Yes, the Soviet state committed atrocities, but NATO’s function wasn’t moral arbitration. It was to lock Western Europe into a US-led military-economic bloc. The “Soviet threat” was instrumentalized to justify permanent arms spending, discipline allied capitals, and secure markets for Western defense monopolies. That’s in US diplomatic records, not just “propaganda.”
“Show me ONE instance of NATO sending tanks to suppress an independence movement in a country.”
That’s a deliberately narrow frame. NATO doesn’t always need boots on the ground: bombing Yugoslavia in 1999 to break a sovereign state, arming proxies to overthrow Libya in 2011, backing the fascist coup in Greece in 1967. But the deeper point isn’t about direct occupation, it’s about how military hegemony enforces the economic conditions for extraction: debt traps, structural adjustment, resource access. NATO secures the airspace; finance capital does the rest.
“No, the argument is ‘NATO good because they don’t subjugate or attempt genocide’”
That’s a embarrassingly low bar. By that logic, any alliance that doesn’t commit genocide is “good.” Meanwhile, NATO’s actions have enabled mass death through sanctions, bombing campaigns, and destabilization. “Not genocide” isn’t a defense, it’s a deflection from the material function: enforcing a global hierarchy where wealth flows from the periphery to the core.
“I guess discussion is difficult when you’re arguing against reality.”
You called my analysis “propaganda,” told me to “read Wikipedia,” and dismissed structural critique as “talking points.” Don’t pose as the adult when your rebuttal is moral scorekeeping and establishment sources. If you want to debate how the system actually works (finance flows, military backing, unequal exchange) I’m here. But you clearly have a narrative and talking points you like.
NATO?
Yes indeed, they’re part of NATO now, thanks for highlighting that positive development. Any step that can be taken against the russian dictatorship is a good one.
NATO is still an imperialist tool.
Yes, the aggressive action of too effectively not letting other people invade you. /s
How dare NATO countries not allow to be invaded?! Don’t they know might is right?
Wait…
NATO is “defensive” like the IDF is. It’s defensive of imperialist countries that export capital to super-exploit the global south, preventing any backlash from reaching the imperial core. The difference between NATO and the Alliance of Sahel States, for example, is that the countries banding together in NATO all benefit from imperialism, while the Sahel States are banding together to kick out imperialists. Both are millitary alliances, but one is highly reactionary while the other is progressive.
Sure, I guess if you want an invasion of the West to work it’s a bad thing.
The IDF isn’t a fair comparison. They do a whole lot of stuff, unlike NATO which mainly prepares, and much of it does not meet the standard of defence to anyone’s satisfaction but Israel and maybe the US.
What I want is for the end of imperialism and the adoption of global socialism. NATO stands on the side preserving imperialism.
Well, that’s a natural place to end, but I’m curious. What would global socialism look like, according to you? If some regional national group wants do do something very not socialist, like I dunno, forced marriages, are they stopped, or allowed to? And what about groups that are almost but not quite a nation, like you tend to find anywhere with a long history?
Progressive movements are to be supported, reactionary movements are to be opposed. If a regional group wishes to, say, reinstate capitalism or feudalism, then this is to be corrected as bloodlessly as is feasible. Impulses towards reaction fade over time as socialism solidifies, but they definitely exist for at least a few generations after socialism is established.
National liberation is a pre-requisite for socialism, only then do borders begin to fade. In the interim, an internationalist federation of socialist polities would exist.
You either don’t know what NATO is, or you don’t know what “imperialism” means.
Imperialism is the monopoly stage of capitalism defined by the export of finance capital, super-exploitation of subjugated nations, and unequal exchange enforced by state power. NATO was not founded to protect democracy but to secure the geopolitical conditions for Western capital to extract surplus value. The narrative of defending freedom is merely a facade to obscure this class function.
The alliance institutionalized a transatlantic arms market guaranteeing demand for Western arms manufacturers, facilitating finance capital export while enforcing Euro-American hegemony. It standardizes military procurement to ensure profits flow back to core industries, maintaining the superiority required to enforce unequal exchange rates and resource extraction abroad. This is the material function of the organization beyond the rhetoric.
History disproves the democratic pretense immediately. Portugal was a founding member while under a fascist dictatorship, using NATO logistics to wage colonial wars in Africa. France and Belgium, also founders, were violently enforcing colonial rule in Algeria and the Congo at the alliance’s formation. NATO coordinated with these regimes to protect imperial property relations, proving it exists to enforce the global hierarchy that makes super-exploitation possible.
Yes, the famous capitalist society of Ancient Rome.
No, mate. Imperialism is the maintaining and extending of power over foreign nations. NATO does nothing like that.
Ah, OK, so you have no clue what NATO is, got it.
Where else would the West be buying weapons during the Cold War? Russia? :D
Yeah, because NATO had nothing to do with democracy. Like, what pretence? Where the fuck did you even get that from? Maybe, I don’t know, read the Wiki entry on NATO?
Ancient Rome was an empire. Modern imperialism is a specific stage of capitalist development: export of finance capital, monopoly concentration, unequal exchange enforced by state power. Mixing them up isn’t a gotcha, it just shows complete illiteracy in the realm of political theory.
You dodged the Portugal point entirely. Fascist dictatorship, founding NATO member, using alliance supply chains to wage colonial war in Africa. France and Belgium same deal. If NATO was about “democracy,” how does that fit? Or do we just ignore the actual history?
And on your “buy weapons from Russia?” joke: the USSR applied to join NATO in 1954. They were rejected. The whole point was to have a permanent external threat to justify massive arms spending, lock in Western defense contracts, and discipline allied capitals.
Also wikipedia isn’t a neutral source on US-led institutions. It’s edited by volunteers, heavily influenced by Western narratives, and routinely policed for “fringe” critiques of state power. Citing it as the final word on NATO is like citing a Pentagon press release and calling it independent journalism.
If the argument is just “NATO good because wiki says so,” then yeah, we’re not having the same conversation. But if you want to engage in actual analysis and conversation like an adult, as opposed to shouting talking points ad nauseum like a petulant child I’m all for that.
OK, if you mean “imperialism via specifically means of economic pressure”, sure, call it “modern imperialism” or something.
But “imperialism” is what I already said it is. Britain was pushing imperialist agendas before capitalism was a thing. Same with China, Japan, Spain, russia, Germany, France, etc., etc.
I didn’t dodge it. I answered it specifically - you have no clue what NATO is. NATO has nothing to do with what political system is running in a member country. It’s a military alliance. Has nothing to do with democracy.
“The murderer asked to be let in the house. He was rejected”.
Stop gobbling up russian propaganda. The threat was USSR. They were the ones who sent tanks to suppress the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and the 1968 Prague Spring. They were the ones who subjugated the conquered countries, and attempted russifying them.
NATO is a defensive pact against that aggression. Members consist only and specifically of countries that asked to join, nobody was forced.
Then how about you just open your eyes to what’s going on in the world. Show me ONE instance of NATO sending tanks to suppress an independence movement in a country.
No, the argument is “NATO good because they don’t subjugate or attempt genocide”
Oh, look, you’re already nearing the point of flinging personal attacks? One even say: “like a petulant child”? I guess discussion is difficult when you’re arguing against reality.
Again imperialism isn’t just “strong countries pushing weaker ones around.” That’s a surface description, not an analysis. The modern form is structural: monopoly control of capital, export of finance rather than just goods, and a global system where wealth flows upward from subjugated economies to core powers through enforced unequal exchange. Pre-capitalist empires extracted tribute; this system extracts surplus value through debt, trade terms, and military backing. Conflating the two isn’t a rebuttal, it’s just avoiding the actual analysis of the mechanism.
Then why does the treaty’s preamble commit members to “safeguarding the freedom and common heritage of democratic peoples”? Why were “democratic reforms” mandatory for post-Cold War expansion? You can’t dismiss the values rhetoric when it’s useful, then hide behind “just a military alliance” when the Portugal contradiction hits. Fascist Portugal proved the priority: strategic alignment and capital protection over any real commitment to self-determination.
The USSR applied to test whether NATO was about collective defense or containing any state outside Western capital’s orbit. The rejection confirmed the latter. Yes, the Soviet state committed atrocities, but NATO’s function wasn’t moral arbitration. It was to lock Western Europe into a US-led military-economic bloc. The “Soviet threat” was instrumentalized to justify permanent arms spending, discipline allied capitals, and secure markets for Western defense monopolies. That’s in US diplomatic records, not just “propaganda.”
That’s a deliberately narrow frame. NATO doesn’t always need boots on the ground: bombing Yugoslavia in 1999 to break a sovereign state, arming proxies to overthrow Libya in 2011, backing the fascist coup in Greece in 1967. But the deeper point isn’t about direct occupation, it’s about how military hegemony enforces the economic conditions for extraction: debt traps, structural adjustment, resource access. NATO secures the airspace; finance capital does the rest.
That’s a embarrassingly low bar. By that logic, any alliance that doesn’t commit genocide is “good.” Meanwhile, NATO’s actions have enabled mass death through sanctions, bombing campaigns, and destabilization. “Not genocide” isn’t a defense, it’s a deflection from the material function: enforcing a global hierarchy where wealth flows from the periphery to the core.
You called my analysis “propaganda,” told me to “read Wikipedia,” and dismissed structural critique as “talking points.” Don’t pose as the adult when your rebuttal is moral scorekeeping and establishment sources. If you want to debate how the system actually works (finance flows, military backing, unequal exchange) I’m here. But you clearly have a narrative and talking points you like.
Vatnik?