Global Women for Peace United Against NATO
We are women from across the world, who deeply love our planet. We cherish the universal principles of equality, justice and peace affirmed by the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; we fight for the affirmation of the rights of women and peoples, against all forms of violence, exploitation and discrimination. For decades, we have been engaged in the search for global peace, for a new world order that abolishes war. We recognise the role that capitalism plays in generating militarism and war, and we want a new, non-militarized security, to ensure the life and health of present and future generations of all on this planet – and of the planet itself.
Our aspiration for peace is today threatened by the escalating arms race and the risk of nuclear war, the strengthening of military alliances and the militarisation of international relations. All this risks leading humanity to catastrophe. NATO’s decisions since 1991 have in large part been responsible for this developing global confrontation. The latest stage in this policy process is the so-called New Strategic Concept, agreed at the NATO heads of state summit in Madrid in 2022.
The New Strategic Concept continues to establish roles and tasks that go far beyond NATO’s original ‘defensive’ purposes, replacing functions and tasks which are the sole responsibility of the United Nations. The increasingly global NATO, acting in the interests of the wealthy nations of the ‘West’, has extended its activities to the Pacific. It seeks to impose a ‘model of civilization’ well beyond the Euro-Atlantic area of the original Treaty. The New Strategic Concept is completely at odds with the ‘Helsinki spirit’ that seeks peaceful cooperation between states and the rejection of threat or use of force.
This offensive reconfiguration of NATO is in stark contrast with the constitutional principles of many of the member states. Often approved without the consent of national parliaments, it is also at odds with the manifest desire for peace of so many of the peoples of the NATO states. While many face a severe cost of living crisis, governments are required by NATO to raise military spending even beyond 2% of GDP, to meet the ongoing frenzied rearmament. This is often accompanied by increasing authoritarianism, and the re-emergence of neo-fascist, nationalist, xenophobic and sexist ideologies, encouraged by an increasingly militarised culture.
The most recent NATO heads of state summit took place in Vilnius, Lithuania, in July 2023. The New Strategic Concept was further elaborated, increasing global danger and there were demands for further increases in military spending. A special investment fund of 1 billion euros will be set up, paid for by public money for start-ups and technological renewal; this will openly encourage the mixing of scientific education and training for young people with military research. The Vilnius summit also advanced a new ‘gender approach’, encouraging the promotion of female figures to top roles within NATO.
As women of peace, we reject NATO and its world view. It foments instability and exacerbates international conflict. It is irreconcilable with our principle of taking care of the world – a principle that we strive to affirm globally.
The time of colonialism and imperialism has passed. The time of the West’s claim to unipolar domination and ‘moral supremacy’ is over. Today we welcome a new multipolar world order based on shared decisions, on social and environmental justice, on the sharing of resources and technologies, on the transition to zero military arsenals. This is what we women said at the Madrid Peace Summit last year. We reaffirmed this on the occasion of the NATO Summit in Vilnius 2023.
What do we want?
Our message when we met in Brussels, home of the NATO headquarters, was:
- NO to global NATO, No to increasingly militarised blocs, No to war as a way of settling international disputes.
- No to the militarization of scientific research. The younger generation has the right to a secular and democratic education, inspired by the values of peaceful coexistence between peoples and states.
- No to the involvement of women in patriarchy’s war plans. No to any ‘gender approach’ in NATO. Putting women in top roles in a warmongering military organization will do nothing to promote the principles of equality, justice and peace that underlie women’s struggles for freedom.
Instead, we say Yes, to respecting the authentic intentions of UN resolution 1325 on the participation of women in peace negotiations and processes.
Going forward to the next NATO summit – in July 2024 in Washington, DC – we want to work with all those who share these goals with us – to speak out for peace, life and women’s liberation.
Please support our Declaration and get involved with our network.
July, 2023