Remember when Dr. Fauci joined forces with TikTok influencers to push the COVID-19 vaccine and combat “vaccine misinformation” after closing schools and churches for months while lying about gain-of-function research during the pandemic?
The North American Treaty Organization is trying the same thing on foreign policy. As the latest PR stunt, NATO enlisted 16 content creators and paid for all transportation, meals, and accommodation for its annual summit to help improve the organization’s reputation and inform the youth about the importance of the alliance amid the endless Russia-Ukraine war. The U.S. State and Defense Departments also invited an additional ten influencers.
Posting little 30-second propaganda videos on TikTok probably isn’t going to restore Americans’ trust in the West’s foreign policy establishment. America’s conservative grassroots is fed up with globalist organizations like NATO and the World Trade Organization taking advantage of America’s military and industrial base.
TikTok influencers met with some of the world’s most powerful people and parroted NATO talking points to their online audiences.
General Philippe Lavigne, NATO supreme Allied commander transformation, posted a selfie with the influencers on X and wrote: “Great discussions with content creators at the #NATO Youth & Academia evening reception! Together, we're fighting disinformation & fostering critical thinking. Their fresh perspectives & innovative storytelling, their commitment to promoting reliable info empowers young people to make informed decisions about their future security. #ProtectTheFuture.”
After listening to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speak on climate change, TikTok influencer Amanda Round said, “I believe that [NATO is] a necessary organization, obviously in our political climate right now in terms of defense, but also in terms of other looming threats such as climate change,” she said in an interview. “I would encourage young people to become more engaged with it.”
Similarly, local DC. influencer Anthony Polcari, also known as “Tony P,” agreed to attend the summit since he believes in NATO’s mission, claiming, “We need organizations like NATO not only to protect nations from war but to prevent war.”
A propaganda campaign
Believing NATO prevents war is a bit of a stretch in 2024. NATO, which once was a primarily defensive alliance, is now largely ideological, propagandizing Wilsonian liberal internationalism while promoting mass migration, “hate speech” restrictions, and socially liberal causes like transgenderism.
At the height of the war in Ukraine, when Ukraine was performing better than expected, NATO killed a peace and neutrality agreement between Russia and Ukraine, which the Russian delegation wanted, according to a top Zelenskyy official. “Boris Johnson came to Kiev and said, ‘We will not sign anything with them and let’s just make war!’” the official added.
Furthermore, this propaganda campaign aims to win back the American public, which has lost trust in the alliance and its missions. The U.S. has a ballooning national debt and crumbling infrastructure. Since its involvement with NATO, the U.S. has been exceedingly generous to NATO, while other countries were reluctant to spend, enabling and indirectly funding Europe’s lavish welfare states.
President Trump, with many Americans, shares the sentiment that globalist organizations like NATO have taken advantage of U.S. generosity. “I didn’t know what the hell NATO was too much before,” Trump said during his Florida campaign rally. “But it didn’t take me long to figure it out, like about two minutes. And the first thing I figured out was they were not paying. We were paying, we were paying almost fully for NATO. And I said that’s unfair.”
Despite NATO nations committing to spend at least 2% of their GDP on defense, only recently, when Europe came face to face with Putin’s antics, did the majority of NATO countries contribute the agreed minimum. According to a Cato Institute policy analysis, “the United States has averaged about 36 percent of allied GDP but more than 61 percent of allied defense spending” since roughly 1960. And even as the West faces threats from China, the U.S. and NATO weapons stockpiles remain “dangerously low” after arming Ukrainians.
Posting little 30-second propaganda videos on TikTok probably isn’t going to restore Americans’ trust in the West’s foreign policy establishment. America’s conservative grassroots is fed up with globalist organizations like NATO and the World Trade Organization taking advantage of America’s military and industrial base, and the left is furious at Western leaders for aiding and abetting a “genocide” in Gaza. Whether you like it or not, the liberal international order is approaching its final days, and 20-something TikTokers won’t save it.
