It is incontestable that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed at U.S. direction for purposes of aggrandizing U.S. imperialism and marginalizing Soviet influence in Europe. But that was then.
Today I see a Europe composed predominantly of democratic nations with social-democratic systems: far from ideal but unambiguously preferable to Russia’s system. NATO survives as a military alliance dominated by the U.S., but its partners, nations such as France and the reunited Germany, are no longer the basket cases they were after World War II. Vladimir Putin’s greatest achievement is helping to elevate to power a politician — Trump — and one of our two major political parties, who want to abandon Ukraine and destroy NATO.
Surrendering Ukraine or part of it to Putin does not mean Russia would immediately gobble up its neighbors. But I would be very worried as a citizen of any of the Baltic or other nations who quit their ties with the Soviets, since such places could be claimed as part of the historic Russian empire. Booting Russia out of Ukraine required a sketchy coup d’etat. If Ukraine, why not Lithuania, etc.?
The recovery of Europe after World War II means that the European Union, with or without the U.K., has the wherewithal to defend itself from Russia, all the way up to a nuclear deterrent. It is an economic superpower. Trump is correct in his inkling that Europe has taken advantage of U.S. determination to engage with the U.S.S.R. by low-balling its own commitment of resources to defense. (My beloved old professor Mancur Olson called this, “The exploitation of the strong by the weak.”)
That does not mean I would favor a Euro defense buildup. It should be possible for the EU to negotiate a build-down with Russia. This could include getting U.S. forces out of Europe.
It’s time for the Left to revise its understanding of the role of NATO. It is no longer a bulwark against communism, or whatever you prefer to call the Soviet Union. It is no longer elbows-deep in counter-insurgency inside Europe. That would be sending coals to Newcastle. There are already plenty of native European rightists in that business.
Knee-jerk anti-NATO dogmatism obscures the reactionary reach of the modern Russian regime, one that has no redeeming features from any sort of left-of-center perspective.
Russia has its own Left. One of its leading figures has been condemned to a five-year prison sentence. Which side are you on?
Europe's comparatively light contributions to NATO preclude any European foreign policy, and thus strengthen US hegemony. Whether this is good or bad I leave as an exercise to the reader. (And it also seems to be changing.)
There will be no negotiations because Muscovy is not a modern polity ruled by neoliberal elites. It is a failed colonial empire ruled by oil gangsters, which has decayed into a fascist dictatorship (not the Adolf variant, the Benito variant). That dictatorship is now committing genocidal violence against Ukraine, a struggling but genuine democracy. Muscovy will not stop its murder spree until it is defeated on the battlefield. Ergo, Ukraine deserves the full support of every progressive movement and every democracy on the planet.