"Not One Inch Forward" -- Broken NATO Promise that Led to Ukraine-Russia War
"Not One Inch Forward" -- Broken NATO Promise that Led to Ukraine-Russia War
If only the West had kept its promise made in 1990
When did the Russia-Ukraine conflict start? 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine? 2014 when the U.S. orchestrated a coup in Kiev, and Crimea voted to join Russia? Actually, no. They were more like Acts 10 and 15 of a long drama. Act 1 of the riveting play started in 1990!
In 1990, negotiators from US, Germany, France, UK, NATO etc. assured Gorbachev that NATO would not expand “one inch east forward” after the collapse of the USSR. Naively, the Russian side believed it.
Declassified documents released in 2017 show how Western leaders promised (fooled) Russia. “U.S. Secretary of State James Baker’s famous ‘not one inch eastward’ assurance about NATO expansion in his meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on February 9, 1990, was part of a cascade of assurances about Soviet security given by Western leaders to Gorbachev.”
Every major Western leader assured Russia numerous times that NATO would not expand after 1990. This included: US President Bush (Sr.), German Chancellor Kohl, French President Mitterrand, UK Prime Minister Thatcher, and NATO Secretary General Woerner.
The first hurdle was unification of Germany. So, the West agreed that “the changes in Eastern Europe and the German unification process must not lead to an impairment of Soviet security interests. Therefore, NATO should rule out an ‘expansion of its territory towards the east — i.e., moving it closer to the Soviet borders.”
Later, US Sec. of State Jim Baker would repeat his famous phrase not once but three times: “There would be no extension of NATO’s jurisdiction or NATO forces one inch to the east.”
Promise Broken in 1996
Whether all these people lied or the establishment changed its mind later on, the promise was broken within six years. In 1996, US President Bill Clinton brought up NATO expansion. And a lot of American experts were aghast. 50 famous Americans — including US Senators and the (in)famous former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara — signed an open letter opposing NATO expansion.
Amazingly, another staunch opponent of NATO expansion was George Kennan — the very architect of the Cold War containment policy vis-a-vis USSR. The man who fought the Soviet Union for 45 years wrote in the NY Times: “expanding NATO would be the most fateful error of American policy in the entire post-cold-war era.”
But warmongers in the US military industrial complex thought this was the best opportunity to establish a global American Empire. Russia was weak, China was poor, and there was no one to challenge the USA.
Thus, NATO started expanding. In July 1997, the NATO Summit in Madrid decided to admit Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, which all became official members two years later (in 1999). Then seven more countries joined NATO in 2002; and four more since then.
In 2008, NATO announced that Ukraine and Georgia would become members soon. This evoked serious responses from Putin, followed by a one-week war between Russia and Georgia. That should have been a warning for the West about Russia’s red line, but Washington’s arrogance and greed have no limits.
Understanding Russia’s Position
Throughout history, Russia has been invaded dozens of times by Western empires and nations. The history’s dreadful lesson is that there should be a buffer between Russia and Europe. During the Cold War, the Warsaw Pact countries provided this buffer zone:
But global bankers and the military-industrial complex have no integrity. They attack even when the other party is trusting. Perhaps, even more when the other party lets its guard down.
In the 1990s, Russia embraced everything American — the politics, economics, culture etc.
Wall Street literally ruled Russia; and all the new Russian oligarchs who controlled and bled Russia — Petr Aven, Boris Berezovsky, Mikhail Fridman, Vladimir Gusinsky, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Alexander Smolensky and Roman Abramovich — were all 100% pro-American/European.
And Boris Yeltsin was a drunken idiot, surrounded by people who were essentially America’s agents. He couldn’t even win the election without American money and PR managers. Bill Clinton even boasted about the influence he had over Yeltsin and the members of the Russian parliament.
Furthermore, the Russian military was in disarray… Russia’s GDP had fallen by 50%… life expectancy had fallen precipitously… and the country was a disaster in every way possible.
When Putin came to power, he tried his best to have good relations with Europe and the US. He even asked Bill Clinton if Russia could join NATO.
In summary, Russia presented absolutely no threat to the United States of America or Europe in the 1990s and 2000s.
However, NATO kept expanding.
Conclusion
Two hundred years ago, US President Monroe announced that European colonial powers should stay out of Western Hemisphere — Central America, Caribbean and South America. This came to be known as the Monroe Doctrine. This gives the USA a huge buffer zone and a sphere of influence. Thus, the US will have zero tolerance for Russia or China establishing military bases anywhere in Latin America now.
Of course, every major power wants such a buffer zone. It’s basic geopolitics and military security. However, Americans casually reject the needs of their geopolitical rivals — China, Iran, Russia etc.
The Ukraine-Russia war could have been easily avoided… if only U.S. elites had stopped dreaming of global domination. NATO should have been disbanded in 1990. Instead, it broke its promises, kept expanding, and turned the current war into a self-fulfilling prophecy.
— S.L. Kanthan
Related articles:
The Big Picture about the Ukraine-Russia War
Three Big Lies about the Ukraine War: Democracy… Sovereign… Unprovoked