Neutrality Studies Transnational Elites Are Engineering World War 3 | Nel Bonilla
Nov 2, 2025
In this insightful discussion, Nel Bonilla, a researcher and Substack analyst, explores the complex dynamics of Western power projection. She argues that instead of retreating, transnational elites are reconfiguring their strategies towards multi-domain warfare. Nel uncovers colonial mindsets entrenched in NATO documents and highlights the urgent framing of competition as a perpetual battle. The risks of escalation, the militarization of society, and the benefits to elites are all critically examined, prompting a call for grassroots organizing as a countermeasure.
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Elite Anxiety Reframes Global Competition
- Transatlantic elites view rising powers as threats and are reorganizing warfare to prevent a closing window of dominance.
- This reaction draws on colonial-era mentality that frames non-Western states as inherently hostile and uncivilized.
Pervasive Competition Is The New Doctrine
- NATO frames future rivalry as 'pervasive competition' across all domains, not merely traditional military conflict.
- Their planning treats every domain—financial, technological, cognitive—as a battlefield to be continuously contested.
NATO Official's Publicly Racialized Statement
- Florence Gaub, NATO foresight director, publicly said "Russians look European, but they are not" and argued they accept dying early.
- This illustrates how normalized racialized, civilizational narratives are inside official NATO circles.