The West’s unspoken assumption is that Asians cannot be trusted to manage their own affairs, at least when Western interests are involved
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has failed to deter or stop Russia from invading and annexing Ukrainian territories, yet it wants to expand into Asia-Pacific to take on China. Most of its European member states – Germany even has slight negative growth this year – is mired in economic slowdown, social malaise and political instability, yet they want to double, more or less, their national defence spending. Where will they find the money?
That’s why Nato chief Mark Rutte raised a few eyebrows among independent observers, especially those from Asia, when he told an audience in London this week that what happened in the Pacific was Nato’s business too. It is?
“We cannot think that there is one theatre, which is the Euro-Atlantic theatre,” he said. “We have to be conscious of the fact that this is all interconnected with what is happening in the Pacific.”
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