New menace from Russia? NATO is the real threat | CND UK by Alan Mackinnon | (May 2015)

Labour Party conference opens tomorrow in Brighton. The issue of Trident and nuclear weapons is one of intense discussion, both on the conference floor and around the conference hall.

Last week all of us heard the tragic news of the death of Alan Mackinnon who had been a friend to many of us.

NATO has, therefore, provoked the very Russian threat it ostensibly seeks to deter. That 'threat' is already being used to ratchet up the arms race, creating a new NATO 'Spearhead' rapid reaction force and new military bases across eastern Europe. It has also been used to legitimise Britain's nuclear weapons system which is assigned to NATO. For the peace movement in Scotland and across the world, NATO and the events in Ukraine are issues that we cannot ignore. Challenging the aggressive expansion of the military alliance, the dark forces behind the Ukrainian coup and the one-sided media narrative that goes with it will be essential if we are to explain and counter this new threat to world peace.