Peace Through Non-Alignment

8/2/2019 Peace Through Non-Alignment

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Ben Lowe is author of a book on NATO published in Spainas part of the campaign for Spanish withdrawal during thereferendum of March 1986, La Cara Ocuita de fa OTAN; acontributor toMadDogs edited by Edward Thompson andMary Kaldor; and a member of the Socialist Society, whichhas provided financial and research support for thispamphlet.


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Ben Lowe

Peace throughNon-AlignlllentThe Case Against British Membership

of NATO

The Campaign Group of Labour MPswelcomes the publication of this pamphlet andbelieves that the arguments it contains are worthyof serious consideration.

VERSOThn Il11prlnt 01 New Left Books


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First published 1986Verso Editions & NLB15 Greek St, London WIBen Lowe 1986ISBN 086091882Typeset by Red Lion Setters86 Riversdale Road, N5Printed by Wernheim PrintersForster Rd N17

Contents

F'oreword by Tony Benn and Jeremy CorbynIntroduction 11. NATO and the Post-War World 3

Origins of the Alliance 3America's Global Order 5NATO's Nuclear Strategies 7A Soviet Threat? 9NATO and British Politics 11Britain's Strategic Role 15Star Wars and Tension in NATO 17America and Europe's Future 19

2. Labour and NATO 21Labour's Military Policies 21A Non-Nuclear NATO? 23Are Labour's Proposals Coherent? 25A Fluid Public Opinion 30The Basic Case against NATO 32Towards a Campaign for Withdrawal 35Labour and the Trade Unions 36In Conclusion 38

Notes 40


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ForewordThis pamphlet, which argues the case for Britain to leave NATO and movetowards a non-aligned foreign and defence policy, has been very widely discussed. Those of us who are sponsoring it belive that the information itcontains, and the conclusions that it reaches, are of the greatest importanceand ought to be made publicly available.

We also know very well that successive Labour Party conferences, andelection manifestoes, have committed Labour governments to retainBritish membership of NATO. When the general election comes, all of uswho are parliamentary candidates will, quite rightly, be explaining to ourelectors that this is the official policy of the party.Nevertheless, there are many people, both inside and outside the Party,who most certainly do want to see the issue raised, as became apparent atthe 1985 Labour Conference when nearly 2112 million votes were actuallycast for a resolution asking the NEC to re-examine Britain's NATOmembership.This is partly because there is a clear potential contradiction betweenLabour's commitment to NATO, and its equally clear commitment to theremoval of all nuclear weapons and us nuclear bases from Britain. For if theAmerican government refuses to accede to that demand and threatens toend our NATO membership if we persist, a stark choice may have to bemade. In New Zealand a Labour government, backed up by a solid majorityof electoral support, has also had to face outright opposition from theAmericans, who are effectively squeezing New Zealand out of the ANZUStreaty.Furthermore, President Reagan's decision to bomb Libya from us basesin Britain shows that the country is now seen in Washington as an unsinkable aircraft carrier-a thought that cannot be very reassuring to Britishpeople who are at risk whenever it is used for that purpose.It was after the war, at about the time that NATO was formed, that MrAttIee agreed that some us aircraft should come to Britain on 'trainingmissions'. From then on, the us presence hat; grown substantially andbecome permanent, until today it totals about 130 bases or installations and


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Documents

Peace Through Non-Alignment