With global capitalism in crisis, the recent NATO summit exposed the deadly volatility of inter-imperialist rivalry for all to see. Summit host Turkey is at odds with European powers as NATO weakens and Iran out-maneuvers the U.S. and Israeli carpet bombers, who have killed more than seven thousand workers and children since February (BBC.com, 6/19). China’s bosses are escalating threats to take Taiwan and NATO’s proxy war with Russia grinds on in Ukraine. In a side room, U.S. President Donald Trump offered a theoretical deal to sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey’s dictator-in-chief, Recep Erdogan, who is hedging his bets on the U.S. and Europe by preserving Turkey’s ties to Russia, NATO’s main adversary.
The momentum toward world war may seem slow and gradual, but it is gaining steam by the day. The old liberal world order dominated by U.S. capitalism is dead, leaving the world’s bosses at each other’s throats—and ready to spill the blood of millions of workers as they fight to protect their profits and rule the world. For the international working class, capitalism offers only death and destruction. Now is the time to fight for a communist future that will bury the bosses and their wars for all time.
Trump blusters, NATO burns
The bosses are preparing for the big fight they know is coming. Europe, abandoned by the Trumpers, wants to recruit Turkey to join them against Russia. But given the geopolitical realities for a country that shares the Black Sea with Russia, this is wishful thinking. The wars in Ukraine and Iran have brought Turkey’s strategy to play both sides to 0ia head. Meanwhile, Trump is openly trying to cut his own deals with Russia and China while pulling troops and money and weapons from NATO (Fox News, 5/28). Loose-cannon-Trump has also repeatedly threatened to invade Greenland, a territory controlled by NATO member Denmark. Now he’s threatening to sanction NATO member Spain for refusing to support his bungled war against Iran.
The imperialists’ shifting alliances offer no possible benefit to the working class. Whether they’re in the U.S., Europe, Russia, or China, capitalists serve only themselves. Workers must reject all nationalism and fight for communism, a world run by and for our class.
NATO not what it used to be
NATO was formed in the wake of World War II, as the U.S. became the top capitalist power and sought to contain the Soviet Union, then led by communists. The U.S. funded NATO to control it. The European bosses bowed to U.S. dominance as a way to stay in power in the midst of an intense cold war.
That world is not the one we live in today. The U.S. bosses are much weaker, Russia is but a mid-level capitalist power, and old alliances have collapsed into a free-for-all that is tearing up the globe. Trump has injected a new level of chaos by rejecting any pretense of loyalty to traditional U.S. allies in Europe. Left on their own, the Europeans are struggling to shore up what’s left of NATO while rapidly arming for war and trying to fend off Russia’s expanding influence.
But Europe itself is sharply divided. After recently trying and failing to unite around a new fighter jet project, France and Germany wound up scrapping the project altogether (Reuters 7/13). The two largest and richest European NATO members are both faced with hyper-nationalist, anti-NATO mass movements vying for power. Open fascist Marie Le Pen, the front-runner to win next year’s presidential election in France, has openly expressed her plans to pull back from NATO (Reuters, 5/22).
The debacle in Iran may be the final blow to U.S. sway over NATO, as the European bosses refused to give Trump and the genocidal Israeli rulers any material help—and saw that the U.S. war machine was unable to protect their interests in the Persian Gulf. Even if a Democrat wins the White House in 2028, it will be next to impossible to rebuild U.S. dominance in Europe.
In virtually every major economy, the bosses are becoming more and more fractured—and more urgent in ramping up arms production. That’s what preparation for world war looks like.
Turkey goes its own way
Modern Turkey was founded in 1923 out of the fall of the old Ottoman Empire. The country’s military has historically played a big role in running the government, with four military coups since 1960. Turkey is a prime example of how democracy and fascism are intertwined, as the Turkish ruling class moves back and forth between the two to serve its interests. Elected dictator Recep Erdogan has been in power since 2014 and regularly jails opposition politicians to guarantee favorable election outcomes.
Sitting between Europe and Asia, Turkey has long fought for autonomy from both the West and Russia (Institut Montaigne, 5/1/23). Turkey was brought into NATO in 1952, at the height of the Cold War, to secure NATO’s southern flank and block the Soviet Union from moving into the Mediterranean. But even though Turkey is a full member of the alliance, with a huge military, it has often gone its own way where Russia is concerned. Although Turkey cut its Russian oil imports by 20 percent over the last year to improve its chances of buying the F-35’s, Russia remains the country’s biggest oil supplier by far (Reuters 5/27). In the same vein, when the Biden administration imposed sanctions against Russia after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Turkey ignored the U.S. bosses and remains a top Russian trading partner, second only to China (Turkish Minute, 9/9/25). Though the Europeans are now trying to bring Turkey back into their fold, its conflicting interests make it an unreliable NATO partner at best.
Working class must prepare for war
There’s a lot going on in the world today, and most of it looks pretty bad. Capitalism in decay is volatile and dangerous, and the ugly future it holds for us is growing clear. The latest NATO summit reveals the deep instability among these supposed “allies.” With the U.S. no longer a reliable partner, the capitalists are getting ready to fight it out to establish what comes next.
These bosses have no principles beyond grabbing their next dollar. War is simply business by another means, and they will side with whoever they think will keep their profits flowing.
The future for the working class depends on the working class. As world war approaches, our class must break the chains of capitalism and fight for communism with the revolutionary leadership of Progressive Labor Party. Join us!
