THE WISDOM FUND: News & Views
December 20, 2017
The American Conservative

When Washington Assured Russia NATO Would Not Expand

How America's failure to honor a 1990 commitment led to many of today's global crises

by Andrew J Bacevich

"We understand," Baker continued, "that not only for the Soviet Union but for other European countries as well it is important to have guarantees that if the United States keeps its presence in Germany within the framework of NATO, not an inch of NATO's present military jurisdiction will spread in an eastern direction [emphasis added]." Indeed, the proposed U.S. approach to negotiating terms for ending Germany's division would "guarantee that Germany's unification will not lead to NATO's military organization spreading to the east."

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General Smedley Darlington Butler, "'War Is A Racket'," twf.org, September 11, 2001

Stephen F. Cohen, "How the American Media Misrepresent Putin, Sochi, and Ukraine," The Nation, March 3, 2014

Democracy is Not Always the Best Form of Government, Intelligence Squared, March 16, 2014

[When the Ukrainian president was replaced by a US-selected administration, in an entirely unconstitutional takeover, politicians such as William Hague brazenly misled parliament about the legality of what had taken place: the imposition of a pro-western government on Russia's most neuralgic and politically divided neighbour. . . . After Crimeans voted overwhelmingly to join Russia, the bulk of the western media abandoned any hint of even-handed coverage.--Seumas Milne, "It's not Russia that's pushed Ukraine to the brink of war," theguardian.com, April 30, 2014]

Robert Parry, "Getting Fooled on Iraq, Libya, Now Russia," theamericanconservative.com, September 14, 2016

[Putin's interference in thwarting the neocons' dream of a Syrian 'regime change' war moved Putin to the top of their enemies' list--Robert Parry, "The Kagans Are Back; Wars to Follow," Consortiumnews.com, March 15, 2017]

Dave Majumdar, "Newly Declassified Documents: Gorbachev Told NATO Wouldn't Move Past East German Border," nationalinterest.org, December 12, 2017

Andrew J. Bacevich, "When Washington Assured Russia NATO Would Not Expand," theamericanconservative.com, December 20, 2017

[Stepan Bandera were recruited by a Nazi intelligence organization to commit espionage and sabotage against the Soviet Union--Sam Shipman, "The roots of fascism in Ukraine: From Nazi collaboration to Maidan," liberationschool.org, January 4, 2018]

John Pilger, "Skripal case is a carefully-constructed drama," RT, March 18, 2018

Rebecca Kheel, "Congress bans arms to Ukraine militia linked to neo-Nazis," thehill.com, March 27, 2018

The Silence Of The Skripals - Government Blocks Press Reports - Media Change The Record," moonofalabama.org, April 28, 2018

Out of Control: Ukraine's Rogue Militias, VICE International, May 25, 2018

[Not only do they only operate in rebel-controlled areas but they are a source of propaganda about the war, indeed their very existence is an element in the larger propaganda campaign to rally international support for a "regime change" war in Syria. The "White Helmets" brand was conceived and directed by a New York-based marketing company named "The Syria Campaign," which itself was "incubated" by a larger politically oriented marketing company called Purpose.--Rick Sterling, The 'White Helmets' Controversy," consortiumnews.com, July 22, 2018]

Jon Basil Utley, What Everyone Seemed to Ignore in Helsinki," theamericanconservative.com, July 25, 2018

[Trump had entered the White House with a clear commitment to ending U.S. military interventions--Gareth Porter, "Could Trump Take Down the American Empire?," truthdig.com, October 2, 2018]

John Laforge, "Worse than Obsolete: NATO Creates Enemies," counterpunch.org, December 31, 2018

"U.S. Escalates Online Attacks on Russia's Power Grid," nytimes.com, June 15, 2019

"The Minsk Conundrum," chathamhouse.org, May 22, 2020

"Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad, 1798-2020," Congressional Research Service, July 20, 2020

"Hunter Biden: What was he doing in China and Ukraine?," bbc.com, April 6, 2021

AUDIO: M E Sarotte, "Not One Inch: America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate," Yale University Press (November 30, 2021)

Mike Madden, "How Not to Explain the Ukraine Crisis," consortiumnews.com, December 24, 2021

[Stepan Bandera led Ukrainian Insurgent Army, which fought alongside Nazi Germany during WWII, killing thousands of Jews and Poles--"Hundreds of Ukrainian nationalists march in honor of Nazi collaborator," timesofisrael.com, January 1, 2022]

Thierry Meyssan, "Russia wants to force the US to respect the UN Charter," voltairenet.org, January 4, 2022

Scott Ritter, "What War With Russia Would Look Like," consortiumnews.com, January 10, 2022

Roots of the Ukraine Crisis, BreakThrough News, January 19, 2022

[The Russian-Ukrainian war began in 2014 after pro-European protesters toppled the government of the Moscow-backed president Victor Yanukovych. This led to a rapid escalation of a crisis that resulted in the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014 and the establishment of two Russian-protected de facto states in eastern Ukraine: the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics--Stefan Wolff and Tatyana Malyarenko, "Ukraine: a country wounded by eight years of crisis," theconversation.com, January 20, 2022]

'Playing With Fire': Fmr Foreign Secretary of India on NATO Expansion, RT, January 24, 2022

'NATO Expansion Was a Big Mistake' - Fmr Austrian FM, RT, January 26, 2022

VIDEO: "Who is Hunter Biden by Jeanine Pirro," February 6, 2022

VIDEO: "What Russia And Putin Actually Want With Ukraine," AJ+, February 16, 2022

[North Atlantic Treaty Organisation has made deep inroads into Ukraine's political and defence system.--M K Bhadrakumar, "Putin anticipates a new regime in Kyiv," rediff.com, February 24, 2022]

[Victoria Nuland installed Dimitro Yarosh as special adviser to the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Army, . . . has incorporated the Azov battalion - which is a truly Nazi group--Thierry Meyssan, "Russia's intervention in Ukraine," voltairenet.org, February 24, 2022]

[We are referring, of course, to the legendary George F. Kennan, who had been ambassador to Russia during the Stalinist era and had authored the famous "X" article in Foreign Affairs published in 1947. The latter laid out the subsequent US policy of Soviet 'containment' and was the foundational document for the creation of NATO in 1949.--David Stockman, "George Kennan Warned NATO Expansion Would Lead to This," antiwar.com, February 24, 2022]

Ukraine: Questions for the US Anti-War Movement w/ Abby Martin & Brian Becker, Empire Files, February 26, 2022

Why Russia is Invading Ukraine, RealLifeLore, February 26, 2022

[The far-right neo-Nazi group has expanded to become part of Ukraine's armed forces, a street militia and a political party.--"Profile: Who are Ukraine's far-right Azov regiment?," spectatorworld.com, March 1, 2022]

Andrew Bacevich, "The Ukraine invasion is nothing compared to Iraq," spectatorworld.com, March 2, 2022

Ray McGovern, John Mearsheimer, Putin's Invasion of Ukraine Salon, Committee for the Republic, March 2, 2022

Alex Rubinstein and Max Blumenthal, "How Zelensky Made Peace With Neo-Nazis," consortiumnews.com, March 4, 2022

Forever War in Ukraine or End of Unipolar World? Anya Parampil, Red Lines, The Grayzone, March 4, 2022

Chris Hedges: War profiteers are fueling this crisis, The Real News Network, March 4, 2022

[What is President Putin talking about? Who is he fighting against? And what are the reasons that have made the Atlanticist press blind and mute?--Thierry Meyssan, "Russia declares war on the Straussians," voltairenet.org, March 5, 2022]


If WMDs have been found on the Ukraine border then the game is over for NATO, George Galloway, March 6, 2022

Maidan: Road to War, odysee, March 7, 2022 [from 2014 to 2022 DPR and LPR "subjected to daily shelling from Ukraine"]

Thierry Meyssan, "Israel stunned by Ukrainian neo-Nazis," voltairenet.org, March 8, 2022

Tucker Carlson, "We are at war with Russia, whether or not Congress has declared it," foxnews.com, March 8, 2022

Scott Ritter (former United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq from 1991 to 1998) follows Galloway's monologue, March 9, 2022

Nuland and Rubio Glenn Greenwald, "Victoria Nuland: Ukraine Has 'Biological Research Facilities,' Worried Russia May Seize Them," substack.com, March 9, 2022

[Viewing the Ukraine war as starting with the current Russian invasion leads to very different conclusions than if you consider that the starting point of this war was the 2014 US-orchestrated coup in Ukraine.--Roger Harris , "When Did the Ukraine War Begin?," counterpunch.org, March 10, 2022]

Headline Buster: The Russia-Ukraine conflict, CGTN, March 11, 2022

Jim Geraghty, "The Real 'Especially Dangerous' Materials in Those Ukrainian Biological-Research Labs," nationalreview.com, March 11, 2022

Ian Bremmer, "What the war in Ukraine means for the global order," ted.com, March 11, 2022

How US-backed Maidan coup, Russiagate led to war in Ukraine, The Grayzone, March 13, 2022

David Stockman, "Pearl Harbor My Eye!," antiwar.com, March 11, 2022

Gravitas Plus: Why the West is winning the Information War, WION, March 13, 2022

"Bioweapons Programs in Ukraine," puntopress.com, March 21, 2022

The battle for Ukraine, with ex-UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter, The Grayzone, March 23, 2022

[Kiev's attack on the population of Donbass on February 17 was an attack on Ukrainian-Russian citizens. Moscow came to their rescue, in an emergency, from February 24.--Thiery Meyssan, "The New World Order that is being prepared under the pretext of war in Ukraine," voltairenet.org, March 29, 2022]

"Negotiated End?," RT CrossTalk, March 30, 2022

Alastair Crooke, "By Sanctioning Russia, The EU Has Sanctioned Itself," RT Going Underground, April 2, 2022

Richard Ochs, "The United States and Ukraine Started the War - Not Russia," RT Going Underground, April 9, 2022

Jeremy Scahill, "Noam Chomsky and Jeremy Scahill on the Russia-Ukraine War, the Media, Propaganda, and Accountability," The Intercept, April 14, 2022

Looming Threats in the Global Economy? The Agenda, April 21, 2022

[CIA director, William J Burns, actually recognized the eventual crackup of Ukraine back in 2008--David Stockman, "NATO Put Ukraine on the Path to Partition," antiwar.com, April 21, 2022]

Col. Richard Black: U.S. Leading World to Nuclear War, Schiller Institute, April 26, 2022

Europe is destroying its own economy, MOATS Ep. 154, May 4, 2022

The Chris Hedges Report: Ukraine and the resurgence of American militarism, May 13, 2022

Why is the US not pushing for an end to the Ukraine war? June 16, 2022

Douglas Macgregor, "When the Lies Come Home," theamericanconservative.com, June 17, 2022

[The Biden administration is packed with the same neocons who championed the U.S. wars of choice in Serbia (1999), Afghanistan (2001), Iraq (2003), Syria (2011), Libya (2011), and who did so much to provoke Russia's invasion of Ukraine.--Jeffrey D. Sachs, " Ukraine Is the Latest Neocon Disaster," theamericanconservative.com, July 1, 2022]

'This is a war of propaganda': John Pilger on Ukraine and Assange, Talking Post with Yonden Lhatoo, SCMP, July 8, 2022

[The Russian president, whose entire argument with the West is that a just and stable order in Europe must serve the security interests of all sides, was simply restating objectives the trans-Atlantic alliance had once signed on to accomplish.--Patrick Lawrence, "The Imaginary War," consortiumnews.com, July 13, 2022]

[Since Russia views its vital security interests to be at stake in the current conflict, the war in Ukraine is rapidly escalating to a nuclear showdown.--Jeffrey Sachs, "The great game in Ukraine is spinning out of control," johnmenadue.com, October 1, 2022]

[The US and its European allies, who represent and back the global financial sector, are essentially engaged in a battle against the world's energy sector.--Karin Kneissl, "Global finance vs global energy: who will come out on top?," thecradle.co, October 13, 2022]

Ukraine Soldiers Sing Praises Of WW II Era N@zi, Jimmy Dore Show, October 22, 2022

Russia-Ukraine War: What Can We Learn from History? Intelligence Squared, October 27, 2022

Scott Ritter: Ukraine cannot win this war. It's a 'fantasy.' therealnews.com, November 15, 2022

Paul Kirby, "Why did Russia invade Ukraine and has Putin's war failed?," bbc.com, November 16, 2022

Peoples Dispatch: "Ukraine Parliament Cheers Nazi Collaborator," consortiumnews.com, January 6, 2023

Tulsi Gabbard on the Truth of President Zelensky, January 23, 2023

Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity: Your intelligence advisers seem blissfully unaware of what is coming. Still less do they appear able to offer you options to head off further disaster for Ukraine without still more dangerous escalation. As for China, the partnership with Russia is now so close that there is now a risk of a two-front war with two strong nuclear powers strongly supporting each other against the U.S.--"Leopards vs. the Russian Bear," antiwar.com, January 26, 2023

Seymour Hersh: How America Took Out The Nord Stream Pipeline, acTVism.org, February 15, 2023

Prof. Jeffrey Sachs: Ninth Anniversary of Ukraine War, CGTN, February 24, 2023

Who is behind the Nord Stream pipeline explosions?, CGTN America, March 3, 2023

'No One Asks This To Zelensky': Russia's Sergey Lavrov On Ending Ukraine War, Raisina Dialogue, March 3, 2023

VIDEO: George Galloway, "War began in 2014 with regime change imposed on Ukraine by the West," MOATS, April 3, 2023

Tucker Carlson: This will make you sick to your stomach, Fox News, April 14, 2023

[in 2023, we hear a resounding no to U.S. domination and see a marked appetite for a world without a hegemon--Fiona Hill, "The Rest's Rebellion Against the United States," icds.ee, May 12, 2023]

The Editorial Board, "Why the Durham Report Matters to Democracy: It is a damning account of the corruption of the FBI and its accomplices," wsj.com, May 16, 2023

[Ukrainians were the most God-awful Jew-killers in the WWII, actually worse than the Germans. They killed thousands of Jews in Kiev and elsewhere, led by their presently admired Bandera.--Israel Shamir, "Tel Aviv Colour Revolution," unz.com, May 27, 2023]

Drones Hitting Russia. Is Russian defense weak? Col Doug Macgregor, June 1, 2023 -- Every time Biden speaks the war escalates

Scott Ritter: Stupidity on a Massive Scale, Dialogue works, August 25, 2023

Tucker Carlson Interviews Hungary's Viktor Orban, August 29, 2023

Jeffrey Sachs, JFK's Quest for Peace, TRNN, September 29, 2023

VIDEO: Tucker Carlson, "The Vladimir Putin Interview," tuckercarlson.com, February 8, 2024

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