The Atlantic's Promise, the Pacific's Reply
On July 6th, a day before the NATO summit in Ankara, Secretary General Mark Rutte demanded that allies submit their plans to spend 5% of GDP on defense in a "clear, concrete, and credible" manner. For those failing to comply, he added that there are "ways to persuade." Trump, under the banner of 'NATO 3.0,' headed to Ankara demanding a transition to a system where Europe takes responsibility for its own defense. A 'Big Reveal' event is scheduled for Tuesday, unveiling billions of dollars in new arms procurement plans. In a city secured by barricades, checkpoints, and detainees as described in previous diaries, the alliance now demands concrete figures for rearmament.
But the real rearmament on July 6th took place not in Ankara but at sea. That same morning, Australian Prime Minister Albanese and Fijian Prime Minister Rabuka signed the 'Pacific Peace Alliance' in Suva. It is the first mutual defense treaty in Fiji's history. This is the second Pacific defense pact Australia has signed in a year, in response to China's 2022 security agreement with the Solomon Islands. And hours later, China's navy conducted a test of a submarine-launched long-range ballistic missile in the South Pacific. Australia's foreign minister condemned it as "destabilizing the region," while Beijing called it "a routine part of annual military programs." Not a coincidence. On the very day the Australia-Fiji treaty was signed, China's SLBM was launched in the same ocean. When the imperial order draws a defense line in one sea area, the competing order erases that line in the same sea area.
Add to this: Lockheed Martin acquired naval defense technology firm Ultra Maritime for $3.45 billion. Simultaneously with the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz — Vice President Vance announced that tanker traffic had returned to pre-war levels — demand for underwater autonomous weapons is surging. OPEC+ approved an additional 188,000 barrels per day increase starting in August, while UBS lowered its oil price forecast by $9 per barrel. As war takes a momentary breath, capital stockpiles weapons for the next war. Meanwhile, in southwestern France, wildfires forced thousands to evacuate, and Trump announced from the White House that 500,000 American children had each received $1,000 through 'Trump Accounts.' The empire rearms at sea, burns on land, and writes checks to children in the capital.
Canada's announcement of the winner for its 12-submarine project was also scheduled for that day. A competition between Germany's ThyssenKrupp and South Korea's Hanwha Ocean. Hanwha Ocean demonstrated its technology by successfully completing the first-ever Pacific crossing of the KSS-III submarine. This multibillion-dollar contract shows the position of South Korea's comprador-monopoly defense industry within NATO's rearmament wave. While ThyssenKrupp competes with alliance logic — "We have supplied the majority of NATO's submarine fleet" — Hanwha Ocean counters with jobs and economic benefits. Comprador capital is adept at converting the military demands of the imperial alliance into its own accumulation engine. This is why anti-comprador and anti-monopoly struggles cannot be separated — because the expansion of imperialist military blocs is a profit opportunity for South Korean monopoly capital.
In the previous diary, I wrote that NATO leaders would declare unity from behind the barricades in Ankara. July 6th was the eve of that declaration, and the real drama on that eve unfolded not in the meeting hall but at sea. The Atlantic alliance promises more weapons in Ankara, while in the Pacific, the reply to that promise has already arrived in the form of missiles. Rearmament is not declared; it is executed. And the place of execution is always the sea.
But the real rearmament on July 6th took place not in Ankara but at sea. That same morning, Australian Prime Minister Albanese and Fijian Prime Minister Rabuka signed the 'Pacific Peace Alliance' in Suva. It is the first mutual defense treaty in Fiji's history. This is the second Pacific defense pact Australia has signed in a year, in response to China's 2022 security agreement with the Solomon Islands. And hours later, China's navy conducted a test of a submarine-launched long-range ballistic missile in the South Pacific. Australia's foreign minister condemned it as "destabilizing the region," while Beijing called it "a routine part of annual military programs." Not a coincidence. On the very day the Australia-Fiji treaty was signed, China's SLBM was launched in the same ocean. When the imperial order draws a defense line in one sea area, the competing order erases that line in the same sea area.
Add to this: Lockheed Martin acquired naval defense technology firm Ultra Maritime for $3.45 billion. Simultaneously with the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz — Vice President Vance announced that tanker traffic had returned to pre-war levels — demand for underwater autonomous weapons is surging. OPEC+ approved an additional 188,000 barrels per day increase starting in August, while UBS lowered its oil price forecast by $9 per barrel. As war takes a momentary breath, capital stockpiles weapons for the next war. Meanwhile, in southwestern France, wildfires forced thousands to evacuate, and Trump announced from the White House that 500,000 American children had each received $1,000 through 'Trump Accounts.' The empire rearms at sea, burns on land, and writes checks to children in the capital.
Canada's announcement of the winner for its 12-submarine project was also scheduled for that day. A competition between Germany's ThyssenKrupp and South Korea's Hanwha Ocean. Hanwha Ocean demonstrated its technology by successfully completing the first-ever Pacific crossing of the KSS-III submarine. This multibillion-dollar contract shows the position of South Korea's comprador-monopoly defense industry within NATO's rearmament wave. While ThyssenKrupp competes with alliance logic — "We have supplied the majority of NATO's submarine fleet" — Hanwha Ocean counters with jobs and economic benefits. Comprador capital is adept at converting the military demands of the imperial alliance into its own accumulation engine. This is why anti-comprador and anti-monopoly struggles cannot be separated — because the expansion of imperialist military blocs is a profit opportunity for South Korean monopoly capital.
In the previous diary, I wrote that NATO leaders would declare unity from behind the barricades in Ankara. July 6th was the eve of that declaration, and the real drama on that eve unfolded not in the meeting hall but at sea. The Atlantic alliance promises more weapons in Ankara, while in the Pacific, the reply to that promise has already arrived in the form of missiles. Rearmament is not declared; it is executed. And the place of execution is always the sea.