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NATO – drawing a line between Them and Us

The world is an increasingly polarised place as NATO stages summit that may have bearing on us all.

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History Illustrated: Drawing a line between Them and Us
Published On 10 Jul 2024

History Illustrated is a weekly series of insightful perspectives that puts news events and current affairs into historical context using graphics generated with artificial intelligence.

History Illustrated: Drawing a line between Them and Us
As a concept, "us against them" is learned in childhood but endures on the adult stage of geopolitics, where military alliances like NATO cast themselves as defenders of "freedom and democracy".
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Alignment will be what NATO has in mind when it convenes in Washington, DC, July 9-11, to commemorate 75 years of defending its Western agenda, but more importantly, to grapple with the Russian war in Ukraine.
History Illustrated: Drawing a line between Them and Us
The Russians were also the concern in 1949, when the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created to counter the Soviets, who controlled Central and Eastern Europe - a political divide known as the Iron Curtain.
History Illustrated: Drawing a line between Them and Us
Over the years, NATO has often intervened on the global stage, including in the Kosovo war in 1999, post-9/11 Afghanistan and Libya during the civil war in 2011.
History Illustrated: Drawing a line between Them and Us
The Russians have regularly cited the alliance’s expansion as a threat to security, a notion reinforced by the NATO ascension of three former Soviet republics - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - in 2004.
History Illustrated: Drawing a line between Them and Us
Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, President Putin had repeatedly demanded that Western nations promise to never admit Ukraine into NATO.
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History Illustrated: Drawing a line between Them and Us
If Putin had hoped to limit NATO expansion with his invasion, his plan arguably failed, with Finland and Sweden joining the alliance as a result of the Russian aggression.
History Illustrated: Drawing a line between Them and Us
In his recent call for unity, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had in mind the threat posed by Russia and North Korea, an alliance that sees Pyongyang supply Moscow with ammunition for the war in Ukraine.
History Illustrated: Drawing a line between Them and Us
In childhood, an "us against them" approach could often end with a bloody nose. But in geopolitics, the consequences of confrontation are exponentially higher, a reality that NATO member states will no doubt want to carefully weigh before picking a fight with Putin.