Worse now after NATO Hague Summit, June 2025. We are so far out that millions of taxpayers should refuse to pay and overwhelm NATO/EU legal systems as NATO moves towards Zero Security with this.
By Jan Oberg
Pathological groupthink towards a war economy.
This is a re-posting of my critical analysis from January 2025 below. It has become even more relevant with NATO’s Hague Summit, June 24-25, during which this absurd measure was increased to 5% of GNP to be reached within the next 5-10 years. For a country like Denmark, this will amount to an estimated 10% of the state’s budget!
This comes on top of what IISS let you know here: “European defence spending jumped by 11.7% in real terms to reach USD457 billion, with 2024 marking the tenth consecutive year of growth.”
The same source estimates Russia’s 2024 military expenditures to be US$ 146 billion (or 462 if calculating it by purchasing power parity (PPP).
Currently, none of these NATO/EU leaders have a clue about how to finance it except by taking loans (to be paid back by future generations) and reducing expenditures for a broad range of civilian purposes, such as health, education, and culture.
It will mean a further reduced capability to compete globally in terms of research, innovation, and global problem solving – such as the climate and poverty. It will, in short, give the 88% living outside the West a great boost, and sink the West even faster.
NATO’s leaders will, thereby, bring us everything but security, peace and cooperation. Their “decisions” will, whether knowingly (cynics) or not (ignorants), only bring misery and increase the risk of war in Europe, if not beyond.
This means more than a doubling of already very high military expenditures. The percentage policy relieves NATO members and their governments from doing any serious, intellectually decent threat analysis (see below how it should be done). It is enough in these dark times to just refer to Russia as a threat.
They also know that there is not one journalist around who would ask questions about that all-simplifying, politico-pathological Russia-hating reference. The selected mainstream media are all militarism-promoters.; you never hear a NATO-critical question at the S-G’s press conferences.
The simple facts no one talks about
Regarding NATO and Russia’s military capabilities, please see this. NATO is leading big on every indicator. Concerning military expenditures, Russia’s are US$146 (or US$ 462 if you want the largest possible figure, see above), while NATO’s total expenditures are US$ 1,470 billion. (NATO comprises 32 countries, which account for about 60% of the world’s 190 countries.)
This makes a Russia:NATO ratio of 1:10 as of today !
But that is not enough. The arms-addicted NATO/EU leaders want an increase from 2 to 5% of GNP – or, let’s say, a doubling over the next decade. While neither NATO nor I know how Russia’s military expenditures will develop over that decade – they do serious qualitative threat analysis and not GNP percentages – NATO’s decision about the 5% aims at making NATO’s military expenditures 20 times higher than Russia’s.
If NATO/EU needs 10-20 times more money than Russia to be able to fight Russia, we are witnessing the world’s lousiest economy in action: 10-20 times the Bucks to make the same Bang!
In passing, let me add that, of course, many other factors also determine security, strength, and who would win in a war. However, in light of what I have just communicated to you, I dare to call this 5% measure absurd, irrational, and perverse, even pathological as a policy.
NATO’s glamour covering intellectual emptiness
Look at it as theatre. They arrive in limousines with high security for themselves. They dress elegantly and are guests of the royal couple. They are merely flying in, at the cost of billions, to be nicely placed at the photo opportunity.
All decisions have been made before they meet, they all play their roles and state virtually the same banalities.
They are actors on militarism’s stage, big smiles, hugs and jokes – they are such a cosy family, a success story like never told in human history.
Media that know nothing about substance, focus on certain words or details – like how Trump is referred to as ‘Daddy’ by the charming Rutte S-G. Even the press conferences is a performance.
The statement coming out of the Summit is so brief and non-argumentative that it is not worth the bandwidth you read it on.
It’s bread and circuses for the people. All these emperors wear no clothes, and their speech is unbearably predictable and banal.
Their ‘security’ means Zero Security for you and me. But you are not supposed to see it. This is the Theatre of the Absurd and War.
Nonviolent taxpayer disobedience
Imagine that 100s of millions of citizens in NATO and EU countries decided not to pay that percentage of their tax money which goes to the military and to this militarism. As honest and decent people, they would instead pay that percentage into a common national Fund for Conversion to Peace.
The day their government began to take security and peace – and not militarism – seriously, the accumulated funds could be released to further an alternative policy.
Now, this has to be done by millions and not a handful. If only a handful, the legal systems would be able to process this nonviolent tax break and force people to pay. However, if this was done in the millions, the legal systems would stand no chance to process all. Think of that!
After all, we are now forced to pay even more to receive even less security – for the simple reason that weapons have not led to peace – it’s rather a drug for amotionallists – and more weapons will only lead the world towards increased war risks, reduced human security and – increasingly likely – a rapidly increasing risk of war.
Militarism can not thrive without obedient, accepting – and paying – citizens. If we use our soft power, as Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. always advocated, we can stop this militarist madness.
Time is short! Spread the idea!
Now, the original argument from January 2025:
