Skip to main content
Donate to the 95 years appeal
Nato – what is it good for?
For the Atlanticist lobby and its enthusiasts, the cold war never really ended… NICK WRIGHT reports

FOLLOW the Twitter feeds and various online channels of the Nato lobby, the Western Alliance enthusiasts and you enter an alternative universe in which the cold war never ended.

For these people — and the powerful forces whose megaphones they are — it never did end.

The death last week of George Shultz reminds us that only the flimsiest of permeable barriers separates out monopoly power, big business and government in the leading capitalist countries. 

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is accompanied by councillor Brian Collins (left) and the Head of Kent County Council, Linden Kemkaran (right) as he poses for a photo with members of Kent County Council, County Hall, Maidstone, July 7, 2025
Features / 17 July 2025
17 July 2025

Holding office in local government is a poisoned chalice for a party that bases its electoral appeal around issues where it has no power whatsoever, argues NICK WRIGHT

Re your message in #nujchapel:  If we website looks like shit, no-one is going to take us seriously, or be inclined to subscribe - that's why I think we have to prioritise the way it looks, especially when the site (editorial-wise) is largely working.  When it comes to the issues you mentioned to me the other day (word count, curly quotes, bylines), there are quick and easy work arounds for them (copy and paste text into BBedit, Word, Pages, wordcount.com, etc. Leave curly quotes, bylines, etc to the web de
Democracy / 2 July 2025
2 July 2025

From Gaza complicity to welfare cuts chaos, Starmer’s baggage accumulates, and voters will indeed find ‘somewhere else’ to go — to the Greens, nationalists, Lib Dems, Reform UK or a new, working-class left party, writes NICK WRIGHT

Jack Murillo, a Marine veteran, holds a sign in front of law enforcement guarding a federal building on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in Los Angeles
Features / 19 June 2025
19 June 2025

There is no doubt that Trump’s regime is a right-wing one, but the clash between the state apparatus and the national and local government is a good example of what any future left-wing formation will face here in Britain, writes NICK WRIGHT

Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, delivers a speech about Europe's role in a fragmented world in Berlin, Germany, May 26, 2025
Trump's Tariffs / 5 June 2025
5 June 2025

European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde sees Trump’s many disruptions as an opportunity to challenge the dollar’s ‘exorbitant privilege’ — but greater Euro assertiveness will also mean greater warmongering and militarism, warns NICK WRIGHT

Similar stories
U.S. Army aircraft Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 Super Hercules drops military equipment during a 'Swift Response 2025' military exercises at the Gaiziunai Training Area, some 130 kms (80 miles) west of the capital Vilnius, Lithuania, May 16, 2025
Features / 17 May 2025
17 May 2025

Speaking to a CND meeting in Cambridge this week, SIMON BRIGNELL traced how the alliance’s anti-communist machinery broke unions, diverted vital funds from public services, and turned workers into cannon fodder for profit

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage speaking during the Reform UK
Features / 11 March 2025
11 March 2025
NICK WRIGHT examines how Farage’s party has attracted five distinct voter tribes with incompatible views on economics, immigration and state intervention — presenting both a challenge and opportunity for left organising
From left, European Council President Antonio Costa, Ukraine
Features / 7 March 2025
7 March 2025
Behind the war fever, there is more than just the alleged threat of Russia; economic decline and the struggle for geopolitical dominance play a crucial role in the increasing militarisation of our continent, writes MARC VANDEPITTE
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trum
Features / 19 December 2024
19 December 2024
From Maoist student provocateur to Brussels bureaucrat, Jose Manuel Barroso now emerges to push European rearmament and the Atlanticist dream of a forever war with Russia to the tune of billions of euros, writes NICK WRIGHT