Alright, buckle up. What we have here in Stoltenberg's own words is an unintentional confession slip that lays bare the reality of Europe's geopolitical colonization by the United States.
The entire narrative is framed around a single, paralyzing fear that the empire might lose interest. Stoltenberg isn't worried about a military threat from Russia in this extract, what he's terrified of is the withdrawal of the American security umbrella.
The "alliance" is revealed as nothing more than a protection racket, and Stoltenberg is just an anxious middle-manager ensuring the tribute is visibly being paid to keep the boss happy. The "zero tolerance" for eye-rolling at Trump is the behavior of a vassal state that knows its security depends on the whims of a distant, mercurial emperor. They have to laugh at the right jokes and swallow their pride because their sovereignty is, and has been since 1945, fundamentally conditional.
The most damning evidence is the sheer transactional nature of it all. Stoltenberg’s strategy had fuck all to do with principles, shared values, or democracy. He came to provide Trump with a "graph that illustrated spending was increasing" and flatter him by attributing any spending increases to his leadership. The climax of the 2018 summit was Stoltenberg literally reading from a note Trump handed him in a performative act of submission to placate the patron.
When the Danish PM finally snapped, pointing out the blood tribute Denmark paid in Afghanistan, it was a fleeting moment of rebellion against this entire colonial dynamic serving as reminder that the "burden" isn't just money, but that protest that is immediately swallowed by the overwhelming need to keep the system intact.
In the end, Stoltenberg's "success" is measured solely by his ability to keep the sovereign engaged. His political survival hinged on feeding Trump's ego with the $33bn figure and a positive press conference.
The memoir unwittingly shows us that for Europe's political class, true strategic autonomy is a phantom. Their primary function is to manage the relationship with Washington, proving their continued usefulness to avoid being deemed obsolete, just like Trump initially called NATO. It's a portrait of a continent that has long since mortgaged its geopolitical soul.
darkernations - 2mon
Good find/share/analysis!
I replied that while the [NATO] organisation itself isn’t that large, member states’ delegations also use the building – it makes it easy to meet with security measures in place, and everyone uses the same cafeteria. I told Trump who had designed the headquarters: architects Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, who also designed the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago.
In front of the main entrance, a small avenue of newly planted trees had been constructed, with lawns on either side. On one of these stood a twisted steel girder from the Twin Towers in New York; on the other, a couple of segments of the Berlin Wall. Two testaments to some of the most momentous events in Nato’s history. I introduced Angela Merkel as a speaker by reminding everyone that she had been living in Berlin not only when the wall was erected in 1961 but also when it was torn down in 1989 and Europe changed for ever.
Modern NATO represented by the debris of 9/11 and the pieces of the broken Berlin wall encapsulates what they feel should be prioritised outside of US military industry complex racketeering: imperialism seen through the wanton murder and plunder of the Global South signified by the aftermath of the former, and ultimately anti-communism culminating in supporting fascism symbolised by the latter.
They are all Nazis various forms of fascism enablers at the end of the day (I crossed out Nazis because I think prioritising the German aesthetics demphasises its British and American origins). And a poignant reminder of how not benign those scandinavian countries are especially for those social democrats who hold them in high regard.
IMO the whole article was well worth the read. This is what one buys into everytime one gives into socdem liberal sympathies; the barbarism of European "civility".
17
☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆ - 2mon
Indeed, the article is so very revealing and it's just full of incredible admissions. It really lays bare just how NATO really is nothing more than a protection racket with a bunch of servile dogs falling over themselves trying to please the sovereign.
yogthos in geopolitics
Alright, buckle up. What we have here in Stoltenberg's own words is an unintentional confession slip that lays bare the reality of Europe's geopolitical colonization by the United States.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/04/im-leaving-trump-said-theres-no-reason-to-be-here-any-more-inside-the-meeting-that-brought-nato-to-the-brinkThe entire narrative is framed around a single, paralyzing fear that the empire might lose interest. Stoltenberg isn't worried about a military threat from Russia in this extract, what he's terrified of is the withdrawal of the American security umbrella.
The "alliance" is revealed as nothing more than a protection racket, and Stoltenberg is just an anxious middle-manager ensuring the tribute is visibly being paid to keep the boss happy. The "zero tolerance" for eye-rolling at Trump is the behavior of a vassal state that knows its security depends on the whims of a distant, mercurial emperor. They have to laugh at the right jokes and swallow their pride because their sovereignty is, and has been since 1945, fundamentally conditional.
The most damning evidence is the sheer transactional nature of it all. Stoltenberg’s strategy had fuck all to do with principles, shared values, or democracy. He came to provide Trump with a "graph that illustrated spending was increasing" and flatter him by attributing any spending increases to his leadership. The climax of the 2018 summit was Stoltenberg literally reading from a note Trump handed him in a performative act of submission to placate the patron.
When the Danish PM finally snapped, pointing out the blood tribute Denmark paid in Afghanistan, it was a fleeting moment of rebellion against this entire colonial dynamic serving as reminder that the "burden" isn't just money, but that protest that is immediately swallowed by the overwhelming need to keep the system intact.
In the end, Stoltenberg's "success" is measured solely by his ability to keep the sovereign engaged. His political survival hinged on feeding Trump's ego with the $33bn figure and a positive press conference.
The memoir unwittingly shows us that for Europe's political class, true strategic autonomy is a phantom. Their primary function is to manage the relationship with Washington, proving their continued usefulness to avoid being deemed obsolete, just like Trump initially called NATO. It's a portrait of a continent that has long since mortgaged its geopolitical soul.
Good find/share/analysis!
Modern NATO represented by the debris of 9/11 and the pieces of the broken Berlin wall encapsulates what they feel should be prioritised outside of US military industry complex racketeering: imperialism seen through the wanton murder and plunder of the Global South signified by the aftermath of the former, and ultimately anti-communism culminating in supporting fascism symbolised by the latter.
They are all
Nazisvarious forms of fascism enablers at the end of the day (I crossed out Nazis because I think prioritising the German aesthetics demphasises its British and American origins). And a poignant reminder of how not benign those scandinavian countries are especially for those social democrats who hold them in high regard.IMO the whole article was well worth the read. This is what one buys into everytime one gives into socdem liberal sympathies; the barbarism of European "civility".
Indeed, the article is so very revealing and it's just full of incredible admissions. It really lays bare just how NATO really is nothing more than a protection racket with a bunch of servile dogs falling over themselves trying to please the sovereign.