Dec 15th, 2023 by Panglosss

Citaat uit: Anatol Lieven (1995): Russian Opposition to NATO Expansion | Source: The World Today, Vol. 51, No. 10 (Oct., 1995), pp. 196-199 – Published by: Royal Institute of International Affairs.
%% citaat %%:
In the view of the Russian establishment, NATO expansion is directed against Russia, and Russia’s permanent national interests dictate opposition to this process. Much of the emotional charge of Russian hostility to NATO, and its appeal to the Russian electorate, however, come from a feeling that in recent years the West has repeatedly cheated and insulted Russia, and that NATO expansion will add the crowning touch to Russia’s humiliation. This opposition is now virtually universal. Of course, the population at large does not spend its time worrying about NATO, any more than the bulk of the US electorate worries about defending democracy in Poland and Slovakia, countries they could not easily find on a map. None the less, in America there exists a general public sense both that the United States has critical security interests abroad and that US policy should be geared to fostering democracy. This feeling has a vital effect in determining the international behaviour of US administrations.

In Russia, an equally widespread and deeply rooted feeling now exists thatstrongforcesin the West, and especially in the United States, are deeply and incorrigibly hostile to Russia. In the establishment, fear of NATO has been increased in recent months by what are seen as American attempts to limit Russian influence in Ukraine, the Transcaucasus and even Central Asia.
Also worryingfor Russians has been the growing German role in driving the expansion process forward.Indeed, some of the remaining ‘Atlanticists’ in Russia have begun to argue that Russia itself needs to keep the US in Europe as a counterbalance to German ambitions. %% einde citaat %%