NATO

NATO is back in the news, pushing military forces up to the border of Ukraine. It is a strange beast that is not well understood.

NATO was established in 1949 by a treaty between the United States and the nations of Western Europe to defend against the power of the Soviet Union. With the collapse of the Soviet system, NATO should have been redundant, but it has been kept on as a way for the United States to project power while pretending to be something else. The US invasion of Afghanistan was branded as a NATO action to give it a cloak of respectability.

The reality is that NATO is a toothless tiger, because most of the nations of Europe have disarmed and do not have serious military power. When NATO supported the rebellion in Libya, the European nations ran out of weapons in a few days. The United States had to do all the heavy lifting. The European powers are militarily weak, so the most that they can do in most situations is to impose economic sanctions against people and companies.

In Revelation 13, John saw a beast coming out of the sea. This Beast looked like a lamb but was really a dragon (Rev 13:11), ie it seemed to be on Jesus side, but shifted over to the other side. I have suggested that this terrible beast could be the United States.

According to John, this Beast sets up an image of itself (Rev 13:14-15). This image of the Beast could be NATO. It behaves in the same way as the United States, and is really a mask for American power. NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Daniel saw a powerful empire called the King of the North (Dan 11). NATO is linked to the King of the North.

The image of the beast does not use military power, but relies on police power to destroy all opposition.

…cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed (Rev 13:15).

This beast also relies on economic sanctions to achieve its objectives.

It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a badge of servitude… so that they could not buy or sell unless they had it (Rev 13:16-17).

The NATO countries claim to target sanctions against the rich and powerful, but it is usually the poor who suffer most.