Index – Abroad – Will there be NATO expansion in Southeast Asia?

Retired US admiral James Stavridis was the commander-in-chief of the military alliance’s European forces from 2009 to 2013. Before that, he was the head of the US Southern Command from 2006 to 2009, where he oversaw military operations in Latin America.

According to Stavridis, expanding NATO membership is a necessary response to conflicts in the Middle East, the Russian-Ukrainian war, American-Chinese tensions, and the territorial dispute in the South China Sea. That is why he suggested recruiting Asia Pacific countries “that share the alliance’s vision of freedom, democracy and human rights.”

In addition, Southeast Asian nations such as the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore could be involved, according to the admiral, due to their close ties to the United States.

At the same time, Stavridis also admitted that there are currently difficulties in “the geographical expansion of NATO to a group of Asian democracies”. In addition to dealing with “cultural, linguistic and geographical differences”, in this regard, one cannot forget that a larger membership “would make it even more difficult to reach a broad consensus in the case of any given mission”, said the admiral.

“I would say that the challenges and benefits are roughly balanced, but given the practical and political obstacles, it is probably too early to consider a global NATO,” Stavridis wrote. “But perhaps there is a middle ground that could mean more formal relations between the alliance and Asian democracies,” he added, suggesting measures such as “clearly articulated security guarantees” and “joint procurement of advanced weapons systems.”

There is no doubt that NATO has already expanded its efforts towards Asia. According to some sources, the US government plans to invite him Little one Japanese Prime Minister Fumio to the July NATO summit in Washington. This would be Kisida’s third consecutive year attending NATO summits. In June 2022, the leaders of four Asia-Pacific countries – Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand – attended the first NATO summit in Madrid, Spain. In July 2023, at the NATO summit held in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, the leaders of the NATO member states also met with the leaders of the four countries, presenting their closer relationship.

As early as 2006, Victoria Nuland, the US ambassador to NATO at the time, proposed the concept of a “global partnership” aimed at expanding NATO’s global influence by establishing contact mechanisms with Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. Between 2012 and 2014, NATO signed an individual partnership cooperation program with the four countries.

In 2014, the organization proposed the Partnership Interoperability Initiative to allow other countries to participate in NATO-led military operations. All four Asia Pacific states have joined the platform. NATO also tried to establish a liaison office in Tokyo as its first operational unit in the Asia Pacific region, but the plan had to be shelved due to opposition from France. It is worth mentioning that South Korea and Japan joined the NATO Cooperative Cyber ​​Defense Center of Excellence in 2022. Australia and India have also joined this mechanism.

Britain sent the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier group to the Asia Pacific in 2021, joined by ships from the United States and the Netherlands. In the same year, Germany directed its frigate Bavaria to the Asia Pacific region. Canadian warships have also been active in the Western Pacific region in recent years.

The military alliance’s move towards Asia appears to have drawn the ire of countries such as China, whose defense ministry has accused NATO of being a “two-legged war machine”. In recent years, NATO has moved closer to the Asia-Pacific region and used the non-existent ‘China threat’ as a pretext to promote bloc confrontation, which threatens regional security,” Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said in a 2024 .at a January press conference regarding NATO.

According to Chinese opinions, the United States is behind the scenes the initiator of NATO’s expansion into the Asia-Pacific region. Washington manipulates the bloc to advance its “Indo-Pacific strategy” and hegemonic aspirations to sell security concerns for its own interests, escalating regional tensions.

NATO has used similar tricks in its recent involvement in the Asia-Pacific as it has in its eastern expansion. First, he created a “hypothetical enemy,” creating anxiety and fear in the countries of the region, forcing them to ally with the United States for a false sense of security.

In recent years, the United States has become increasingly vocal about its desire to contain China in its efforts to maintain global hegemony. NATO first identified China as a major concern at its 2019 summit in London, when the summit statement said China represented “both opportunities and challenges”. In 2021, NATO portrayed China as a “systemic challenge” to the “rules-based international order” and areas relevant to NATO’s security. At the 2022 summit in Madrid, NATO accused China of “endangering NATO’s security.”

Analysts have pointed out that NATO’s distortions and disparagement of China are largely fueled by the United States. According to Joshua Shifrinson, an associate professor at the University of Maryland, the United States wants NATO’s continued involvement in Asia because American defense planners are increasingly focusing on China. “As the United States increasingly sees China as its biggest adversary, it wants to ‘globalize’ NATO to Asia and connect it with existing US alliances in the region, including Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Australia,” Timur said. Fomenko is a Russian political analyst.

“Exporting this malignant poison to Asia would be like Asia receiving the plague,” said former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating, referring to NATO’s expansion into the Asia Pacific. Former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen also warned of the risks caused by NATO’s expansion in the region. He noted that warships sent to the region by some NATO countries pose a threat to regional security, adding that none of the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is willing to take a stand.

Responding to Stavridis’ suggestion, a NATO official said that the alliance does not plan to recruit new members from Asia. “We do not plan to expand NATO beyond the North Atlantic, but the alliance is deepening its relations with Indo-Pacific partners, including in the areas of technological, cyber and hybrid threats, as well as support to Ukraine,” said the official.

The author is a senior scientific associate at the Eurasian Center of János Neumann University

(Cover image: European Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers [SACEUR], Admiral James Stavridis speaks at the launch ceremony for OTAN Rapid Deployable Corps – Italy to Afghanistan at Ugo Mara Barracks in Solbiate Olona, ​​Italy on January 10, 2013. Photo: Pier Marco Tacca / Getty Images Hungary)

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