Avellon Williams
NIGERIA- According to Femi Otubanjo, a researcher with the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is gradually becoming a threat to world peace.
Following the outcome of the ongoing NATO summit, which saw Sweden declare its intention to join the alliance, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelsenkyy, called for the confirmation of membership.
A two-day event in Vilnius, the Republic of Lithuania, has seen countries like France and Germany pledge to supply more ammunition to Ukraine.
With the upcoming BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) summit just around the corner, Nigerian diplomats are anticipating the effects of the summit on world order.
According to Otubanjo, NATO has expanded to include the last country before Russia, which is provocative. He noted that members of the alliance would not have accepted such, had Russia done the same.
According to him, NATO is a principal actor in the war between Russia and Ukraine, since it supports Ukraine.
“NATO’s aggressive position on Russia’s war is a threat to world order, same with Russia. While Russia does it to protect its sovereign interest, NATO, on the other hand, think they are protecting the world order by deterring Russian aggression,” he said.
In the current world order, he said, countries are resisting American dominance. “Now, America needs to hold together its hegemony against the threat of China, and China is working with Russia in BRICS to dilute America’s hegemony, to have a world where everyone has a kind of equity,” he added.
Kayode Soremekun, Professor of Political Science at Lagos State University (LASU), said NATO represents a game between Washington and Moscow, with America seeking unipolarity by excluding Russia and China.
NIIA’s former Director General, Prof. Bola Akinterinwa, believes NATO is using the summit to further consolidate the current world order. According to him, NATO wants all of Russia’s neighbors to be on the West’s side, but Russia has refused to let that happen by using all available means.
As he mentioned, the BRICS alliance was created in protest of the current world order, revealing that 41 countries have expressed interest in joining the alliance at its August summit. Consequently, he concludes, America’s dominance is gradually waning.
On the implications of the NATO summit for Nigeria, Soremekun said: “The outcome, as significant as it is, has nothing to do with conditions in Nigeria. We are talking of oil subsidy, reckless pessimism, or cautious optimism from the emergence of a new government. Nigeria has to focus on its problems.”
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