NATO

NATO was founded in 1949 with 12 countries and expanded to the 32 countries in NATO today. The original purpose of NATO was a counter balance to the Soviet Union threat to Europe. In 1991 the Soviet Union collapsed and the original purpose for NATO was eliminated. From the standpoint of the West the purpose of NATO shifted to control over Russia. In 1990 NATO Secretary of State James Baker promised Mikhail Gorbachev that "NATO will not expand one inch east". Later when expansion began the West said Baker only meant expansion in East Germany but the historical record of notes, letters, speeches and interviews that Western leaders were, in fact, already contemplating NATO enlargement by the time these talks took place. In 1997 Russian President Boris Yeltsin tried to secure a promise from President Bill Clinton that NATO would not expand but Clinton refused. Russia could not get the US to understand that it felt threatened as the West put rockets in Europe with only a few minutes strike time to Moscow. As late as November of 2021 Putin said that Russia would be forced to act if its red line on Ukraine were crossed but the West did not heed these warnings. It now appears that the purpose of NATO expansion from the start was to cause Russia to become a failed state. Now it seems that Ukraine is being sacrificed to achieve these ends.