Editor's note: Azhar Azam works in a private organization as a market and business analyst and writes about geopolitical issues and regional conflicts. The article reflects the author's views and not necessarily those of CGTN.

For quite a few years, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has been trying to resuscitate its withering relevance. In the immediate aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the U.S. and its allies used the spat to strong-arm other countries to follow their lead. The military grouping's 2022 Strategic Concept now urges them to bolster the trans-Atlantic alliance and help it re-strengthen America's global influence.

It does so by intending to build cross-regional partnerships as a means to bring peace and stability across the world with a key purpose of the bloc's collective defense in a "contested and unpredictable world" as well as dragging itself into other areas such as technological innovation, climate change, good governance and terrorism that necessitate an inclusive international engagement and cooperation.

Choreographed and orchestrated by the U.S., the framework is indeed a blueprint of America's aspiration of world domination. It calls the Western Balkans and the Black Sea as regions of "strategic importance" and wants to work with partners including in the Middle East, North Africa and the Sahel to push the alliance's own strategic interests.

Across the Balkan Peninsula, it hauls in the European Union (EU) to counter alleged cyber and hybrid threats and address "systemic challenges" from China. The strategy seeks to undermine peace and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific by linking the region with Euro-Atlantic security to advance the U.S.' disruptive objectives.

The strategic plan is an empty-worded declaration of international peace and security for it doesn't lay out any solid program for global stability. Just branding Russia as "the most significant and direct threat" to NATO member countries' security, avoiding confrontation or keeping open channels of communication to manage and mitigate risks cannot guarantee a peaceful and stable Euro-Atlantic area.

In order to prevent escalation, NATO could have instantly taken some de-escalatory measures in Eastern Europe to pave the way for a constructive peace dialogue between Russia and Ukraine. Yet, the U.S. found an opportunity to exploit the spiraling tensions to its advantage. The alliance drove itself into the conflict at the behest of its dominant partner.

Washington isn't interested in pulling the plug on the war. Although Russia has no territorial disputes with two Nordic countries, Finland and Sweden, the U.S. strongly backed their entry into NATO. The move, at a time when the European leaders were striving for peace, could aggravate the peace situation and cap slim chances of ending the Moscow-Kyiv conflict.

NATO's eastward enlargement is loose cannon for regional stability as the accession of Sweden and Finland, the latter of which shares roughly 800-mile border with Russia, will dramatically increase the risk of future conflict.  Meanwhile, its decision to put over 300,000 troops at "high readiness," as announced by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on June 27, will be an inexorable economic burden on the member states amid rising inflation and lack of public support.

The Western media is hyping up war sentiments too. A video of how to manufacture incendiary improvised weapons was aired on mainstream media. Meta platforms allowed Facebook and Instagram to call for violence against Russians. The U.S. state governors requested the removal of Russian products. Russian artists and athletes were banned from performing and participating in sports events.

A Democrat Representative even suggested "kicking every Russian student out of the United States." European doctors refused to treat Russian and Belarusian citizens in violation of the Article 15 of the Geneva Convention to treat all patients equally. This discrimination exposed Western hypocrisy and makes innocent Russians pay the price for what is beyond their control.

During the NATO summit held a week ago, U.S. President Joe Biden boasted NATO was "more united than ever." Yet, behind the facade of unanimity, historical grievances in the Balkans expose fissures in the alliance's unity. Some countries in the region do not swear allegiance to the so-called Euro-Atlantic values and are pursuing their own interests. The internal rifts between NATO Balkan states coupled with the frustration and disappointment over the lack of progress on their accession to the EU are some of the key challenges to the alliance's vision of rebooting its flagging significance and the success of its new military doctrine.

The U.S. wants to see Russia weakened from the Ukrainian conflict but is worried about economic shocks of the protracted conflict, while the peace camp of some leading EU states such as Germany, France and Italy have been advocating for a ceasefire and diplomatic solution between Moscow and Kyiv. Though these differences are partly dwarfed by NATO's newfangled unity and solidarity, they could come back more intensely over the longstanding "burden-sharing" row once the rush of blood fades away.

Europe is beginning to feel the pinch of war. According to Eurostat, inflation in the euro area has shot up from 2 percent last year to 8.1 percent in May 2022. Germany last month recorded its first ever trade deficit of 1 billion euro since 1991.

The world, experiencing unprecedented economic and security crises, lacks the resilience to withstand NATO's cold war posture to prop up U.S. domination. Their people almost surely will dismiss this anti-peace approach. To meet its promise of a "more peaceful world," NATO and developed states should cease undermining global development projects such as the Belt and Road Initiative and working as a tool to advance American hegemonic ambitions. Instead, they must step up efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict through peace negotiations.

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