NATO Pt. 2: The Long War on the Third World w/ Pawel Wargan

Jul 15, 2025

Pawel Wargan, an organizer and researcher in Berlin, discusses NATO's controversial history and its impacts on the Global South. He links NATO to fascist roots and its role in sustaining colonial practices, highlighting the human consequences of these interventions. The conversation delves into NATO's influence on liberation movements in Africa and Poland, and its implications for international solidarity. Wargan also critiques U.S. foreign policy and the ongoing geopolitical dynamics that shape current struggles against imperialism.

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INSIGHT

NATO's True Power Structure

NATO operates under a consensus governance model but is effectively dominated by the U.S. through political and class interests.
It maintains imperialist control internally and globally, blocking socialist and anti-imperialist movements to secure capitalist interests.

INSIGHT

Third World War as Imperialist Violence

The post-WWII period is a continuous third world war manifesting as imperialist violence against liberation movements.
Imperialist interventions caused tens of millions of deaths and widespread immiseration often surpassing direct war casualties.

INSIGHT

NATO’s Fascist Roots and Dark Mandate

NATO inherited and institutionalized fascism's mandate through violent repression of liberation struggles and incorporation of former Nazi officials.
It actively supported colonial powers like Portugal to maintain white supremacist imperialism through military and intelligence aid.

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It’s not hyperbole to suggest that the imperialist wars waged upon the Global South by the United States and the imperialist bloc that it leads are akin to a protracted genocide. The sheer amount of death, carnage, destruction, immiseration, crushed dreams, is almost unfathomable. But it’s real. And it’s the status quo for what we love to refer fondly to as "Western Civilization." And there’s no other force more responsible for implementing this protracted genocide on the Third World than NATO. And in today’s conversation—Part 2 of our ongoing series on NATO—we’re going to explore the role that this military alliance has played in the long war on the Third World.

Pawel Wargan is an organizer and researcher based in Berlin and the coordinator of the secretariat of the Progressive International. He’s the author of the Monthly Review piece “NATO and the Long War on the Third World” which we’ll be focusing our conversation around today.

In this episode, Pawel tells us about the fascist roots of NATO, its “dark mandate” which ushered in an era of terror against the populations of the Global South leading to a protracted genocide that has left tens of millions dead and even more immiserated. We talk about the way that NATO operates in Africa, Poland, and how NATO has served as a leading opposition to liberation struggles in the Third World and across the globe.

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Intermission music: "Black Serpent" by Noroth

Covert art: Soviet anti-NATO propaganda poster

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