With the end of the Cold War, we spent a long time under the illusion that the new shape of the world order would be, if not eternal, then at least long-lasting. Europe ignored the warning signs of a growing crisis in relations with the United States, paid no attention to Russian revanchism, and allowed itself to treat China with arrogance and coldness—China, which in the current situation appears to be the only neutrally inclined player that could become a potential ally.
Blindness, overconfidence, lack of unity and ideology have brought us to where we are today. Yesterday’s allies seek to become our masters; yesterday’s political opponents now proclaim slogans calling for our destruction.
MILITARY BUILDUP ON THE TERRITORY OF “UNGRATEFUL PARASITES”
Against this backdrop, the activity that was rapidly initiated in Southern and Eastern Europe during Donald Trump’s first presidential term appears particularly curious (and ominous)—and today, we dare to pose a number of uncomfortable questions regarding the American military presence in this region.
Perhaps it would be best to start from the beginning. As we recall, Donald Trump has for many years proclaimed the following key tenets of his policy: Europe must pay the United States for the presence of American armed forces on its territory; NATO is outdated and irrelevant; and if Europe disagrees with Trump, the United States will readily leave European territory—since it no longer considers European states as allies and has no intention of spending its resources to protect “ungrateful parasites.”
However, despite all of this, in 2018 (again, during Donald Trump’s first presidential term), Washington approved a number of military construction programs in Eastern and Southern Europe. Moreover, their funding is projected through to the distant year of 2040—a rather curious date, considering that the U.S. regularly threatens the European Union with a near-term withdrawal of troops from the region.
An equally notable anomaly in this picture is the fact that for many years after the end of the Cold War, military infrastructure in Europe remained undeveloped. Frankly speaking, this was not seen as a pressing issue—the military bases, warehouses, airfields, and command centers built for a global war against communism were more than sufficient to meet all the military needs of the North Atlantic Alliance. But for the Trump administration, this was not enough. Why?
THE VALUE OF AN ALLY MEASURED IN RESOURCES
To best understand the logic behind these processes, it is necessary to examine several key aspects that characterize the modern United States of America.
First, there is the crisis associated with the collapse of traditional political forces in America. The Republican Party has de facto disintegrated; it has become fertile ground for the rise of radical political currents that can hardly be called “right-wing” or “conservative.” They more closely resemble techno-fascism, richly seasoned with Darwinist theories, populism, and elitism.
Second, there is the desire of these “new elites” to dismantle all reasonable frameworks and limitations that were formulated and established in the 20th century. This is driven by a thoroughly cynical calculation: enrichment through irresponsibility, which they attempt to disguise as the “removal of barriers to scientific and technological progress.”
Third, the American ruling circles have begun to cultivate extremely eccentric views of their own foreign policy. The United States has never been particularly conscious of its responsibility to maintain the global balance of power, and at present, it has openly rejected that responsibility in favor of predatory ambitions. Europe, Canada, Latin America, and Southeast Asia—once allies and partners—have in the eyes of the American establishment become mere collections of resources that can be plundered with impunity to preserve the current inefficient system of social distribution and delay economic crisis.
CONTROL OVER ENERGY FLOWS
Naturally, all of the above is not the result of a single moment, but of a long-term process. Donald Trump’s second presidential term is nothing more than the culmination of plans and views that have long dominated the highest military and political circles in the United States.
In this light, it is reasonable to assume that the policy of aggressive pressure on Europe was formulated at least a decade ago and has been covertly implemented by Washington ever since.
This is by no means conspiracy theory — at this moment, we can clearly see that the United States is striving to gain control over the arteries of energy supply to Europe, while simultaneously forcing European manufacturers to relocate their production to U.S. territory. The administration of Donald Trump is openly and blatantly seeking to control the Arctic (dividing it with the Russians and preventing Europeans and Chinese from expanding operations there), to seize physical control over oil and gas infrastructure in Ukraine and the Baltics, and to monitor — and potentially manage — the energy flows established by Turkey in cooperation with Azerbaijan and the countries of Central Asia.
And here we return to the central theme of our article: the new American military bases in Europe.
SUSPICIOUS JUSTIFICATION
First and foremost, it is worth noting that the United States clearly does not intend to give up its capacity to project military power anywhere in the world. Accordingly, it has no intention of leaving Europe — such a move would be disadvantageous to Washington and would strip it of a broad range of tools for exerting pressure on both the European Union and Turkey, as well as on Moscow. Anticipating a breakdown in relations with Western Europe, the U.S. preemptively activated a plan to maintain its military presence in the region, focusing on small, less affluent countries with a high level of loyalty to the U.S. These are primarily Romania, Albania, Bulgaria, and Hungary — states on whose territory Washington is establishing full-scale operational centers, intended as alternatives to its bases in Germany.
One might justify their existence by citing the military threat from Russia — it would certainly seem logical to have forward airbases for launching strikes in the Black Sea, where Moscow has been actively amassing forces since 2014. However, the nature and scale of construction do not align with that purpose. The Pentagon is investing in the development of massive operational centers that can serve as intelligence hubs, bases for heavy transport aviation, and facilities for special operations forces — which are entirely ill-suited for conventional war with Russia (a country that, even amid the war in Ukraine, maintains one of the world’s largest missile arsenals and impressive industrial capabilities, producing no fewer than 150 cruise missiles per month). But such infrastructure is perfectly aligned with Washington’s needs if American politicians and military officials decide to engage in active subversive operations in Europe.
LINK TO AMERICAN BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS
Other facts related to the new U.S. military bases are equally alarming. All key contracts for these projects have been awarded to Black & Veatch — one of America’s oldest military corporations, which for decades has masqueraded as an innocent construction company. In reality, Black & Veatch was one of the pioneers in U.S. biological weapons development (the infamous Fort Detrick is one of its creations), and to this day, it controls a network of biolabs in Ukraine (and despite the blatant incompetence and bias of Russian sources, in this particular case, they were at least partially right). The company was also one of the key contractors in the construction of the Wuhan biolab, which is suspected to have been the source of the coronavirus pandemic.
And now, with the approval of the U.S. authorities and under the veil of secrecy typical of all major military construction projects, this corporation is expanding its large-scale operations in Europe — and the consequences of that are completely unpredictable.
At the very least, we can already confidently state: America, taking advantage of the inertia of European bureaucracy, is building a geographical barrier of military bases that cuts off Western Europe from Turkey and, consequently, from the energy and agricultural resources of Central Asia and the Caucasus. Using funds from European taxpayers, Washington is creating a launchpad for subversive activity directed against Europe itself — ranging from cyberattacks and bioterrorism to ordinary espionage and sabotage.
