DISINFO: NATO cultivates Cold War block thinking and considers Russia as an enemy
SUMMARY
NATO continues to cultivate old ways of thinking and the image of Russia as an enemy. One of the main objectives of the Western military alliance is still the “fight against the aggression of Moscow”. Moscow keeps calling for an end to Cold War block thinking. But that would mean the alliance having to search for a new meaning and new goals. For NATO it is easier to live with the good old enemy image.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative, portraying NATO having a belligerent agenda against Russia. Since the end of the Cold War, NATO has introduced sweeping changes to its membership and working practices – changes made clear by its adoption of new Strategic Concepts in 1999 and 2010. Accusations that NATO has retained its Cold War purpose ignore the reality of those changes. Moreover, NATO reached out to Russia with a series of partnership initiatives, culminating in the foundation of the NATO-Russia Council in 2002. No other country outside the alliance has such a privileged relationship with NATO. As stated by NATO heads of state and government at the Warsaw Summit in July 2016, "the Alliance does not seek confrontation and poses no threat to Russia. But we cannot and will not compromise on the principles on which our Alliance and security in Europe and North America rest".