I don't think NATO is strengthened. Finland and Sweden has been tightly integrated into the Evil Empire for a lifetime so their neutrality was always more of a pro forma thing than anything resembling a commitment to anti-imperialism. Everybody always knew what side they would be on if shit would hit the fan.
The big surprise about the expansion into Scandinavia was how ineptly it was done and how openly Turkey went against orders from Washington. The empire is run by the failsons of failsons, people who believe their own propaganda and lack the skills of previous generations of imperialists. Meanwhile vassals in the twilight zone between the core and the periphery are seeing this weakness and try to leverage it to gets better deal.
The west is declining, even though the white and blue swastika banner will fly in the Scandinavian peninsula.
I'm sorry, but I just can't be convinced of some serious evidence of decline or even a blow to its credibility. No matter how you spin it, NATO now has not one, but two wealthy new members close to Russia, both with mandatory conscription. And on top of that, those two nations are now permanent American vassal states, more so than they already were and they will now have American bases and nuclear weapons on their soil that they will never, EVER be rid of. This is one of the best possible victories for American empire, and the MIC gets to work double time to keep those new bases stocked and supplied.
I don't think NATO is strengthened. Finland and Sweden has been tightly integrated into the Evil Empire for a lifetime so their neutrality was always more of a pro forma thing than anything resembling a commitment to anti-imperialism. Everybody always knew what side they would be on if shit would hit the fan.
The big surprise about the expansion into Scandinavia was how ineptly it was done and how openly Turkey went against orders from Washington. The empire is run by the failsons of failsons, people who believe their own propaganda and lack the skills of previous generations of imperialists. Meanwhile vassals in the twilight zone between the core and the periphery are seeing this weakness and try to leverage it to gets better deal.
The west is declining, even though the white and blue swastika banner will fly in the Scandinavian peninsula.
I'm sorry, but I just can't be convinced of some serious evidence of decline or even a blow to its credibility. No matter how you spin it, NATO now has not one, but two wealthy new members close to Russia, both with mandatory conscription. And on top of that, those two nations are now permanent American vassal states, more so than they already were and they will now have American bases and nuclear weapons on their soil that they will never, EVER be rid of. This is one of the best possible victories for American empire, and the MIC gets to work double time to keep those new bases stocked and supplied.