Peace is brat: NATO, digital militarism, and the absurd

On the 2nd of September 2024, NATO posted an image of the word ‘peace’ on a neon-green background with black lowercase font on Instagram, a meme of the recent album by British musician Charli XCX. This example of the brat summer trend stands in clear contrast to the usual visuals that dominate NATO’s Instagram feed: muted tones of camouflage, active soldiers training, military vehicles, and vast landscapes. I take this ‘peace’ post as an example of digital militarism and as an opportunity to explore this vis-à-vis the format of memes. Memes are an inherently playful communicative device that utilise humour and silliness, often for the purpose of community-building. Drawing from the fields of popular culture and digital militarism, I thus ask, what happens if those associated with the utmost seriousness – an explicitly military organisation responsible for ensuring ultimate safety and providing protection – engage with the silly? This article argues that NATO’s engagement with the brat summer meme produces absurdity in several ways: through the choice of meme, the (in)congruence of the post and its singularity.