NATO Pt. 1: An Anti-Imperialist Introduction w/ Elina Xenophontos

NATO—The North Atlantic Treaty Organization—far from being just a defensive alliance between the United States and Europe, is actually the spear tip of imperialism's military arm. It's the force used to discipline any global actor who dares to defy US hegemony and dominance on the world stage. From Greece to Libya to Ukraine—NATO is where we must look to understand how destabilization occurs and how defiant states across the globe are subjugated and opened up to Western markets and capital. And we're lucky enough to have a terrific guest on today to tell us all about how it all takes place.

Elina Xenophontos is an international law and economic globalisation specialist. She produces much of her own material on her Substack and is also featured regularly on the Colonial Outcasts podcast.

In this episode, Part 1 of what will be an ongoing series on NATO, Elina presents a history of NATO, exploring its role as a force against communism and for capitalist discipline in Europe and the Global South and laying the foundations for what will be deeper dives in coming episodes. We explore its expansion during the Cold War and post-Cold War periods as a military arm of imperialism, its role in Yugoslavia, Libya, Ukraine, Iran, and other wars or conflicts, its drive to destabilize any state that refuses to be subjugated under the boot of US imperialism, and why it's crucial for the Western left to correctly identify NATO's role in global capitalism and imperialism in order to effectively combat it.

Further resources:

• Support Elina's work on Patreon
• Elina Xenophontos (Substack)
• Elina Xenophontos (Youtube)
• Colonial Outcasts

Related episodes:

• Our ongoing series on NATO
• Our ongoing series on Iran
• Our ongoing series on Palestine
• Our ongoing series on China
• Our ongoing series on the Alliance of Sahel States
• Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism w/ Breht O'Shea and Alyson Escalante

Intermission music: "Love Life" by Daily Ghost

Covert art: Soviet anti-NATO propaganda poster

Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support

If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship

For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Instagram and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.