Srdjan, you are dead wrong.

NATO expansion has been supported by the Bush administration but it was the candidate countries themselves who pushed for it. They see it as a hedge against possible future Russian imperialism. I can understand the traditional Russian paranoia about potential adversaries on the border but to say that this is a construct of Bush is silly. Also, Russia is already an associate member of NATO, in case you were unaware.

A "friend in the new democratic Russia"? Have you been sleeping the last 10 years? The Russian government is moving more and more towards fascism and away from democracy. They are imprisoning or killing political adversaries. They have a youth movement called "Stal" which harrasses dissenters and intimidates political opponents. In come circles it's called the "Putin-Youth", analagous to the "Hitler Jugend".

Oh, did I mention the military missions to Venezuela and Cuba? Or the sale of arms to Iran? Yeah, that's peaceful.

We don't need a "peace at any price" approach to Russia. What we need is a carrot and stick approach: We're your best friends when you are friendly but piss us off and we are going to be your worst enemies.


>>I could be wrong but let's see what happens. As I've said in a previous post, Obama could be a great president if he goes into this with an open mind and open eyes. If he gets tangled up in ideology, the way Clinton did in '93 and Carter did in '77 he might go down in flames because the country routinely detests hard swings to the right or left.
>>
>>What worries me is that Russia is already pushing the envelope, thinking they have a weak adversary. Can't say I didn't see this coming but Obama needs to stand up to them.
>
>Nuclear standoff in 21 century ? I don't think so.
>Whole 'situation' was created by Bush administration (x-cuse language) deurinating and deploying various 'land mines'
>along no longer existing 'iron curtain' (as in new MDS, army bases, NATO expansion etc in eastern Europe) hoping to (re)make and reinforce that Iron curtain as something real, well demarkated and important again. Don't theeeey miss 'good old' cold war days... {vbg}
>
>But that will be hopefully scrapped all together as completely backward and outdated.
>I believe Obama have enough brain and stamina to abandon this shipwreck of a policy, and offer better direction.
>Such is promoting peace and stability via diplomatic efforts and collaboration (rather then confrontation) with no longer a foe
>but friend in new democratic Russia. (and the rest of the world for that matter)
>
>Since they were expanding NATO and building new bases etc,
>Would'nt it be both cheaper and more productive security wise, to simply invite & admit Russia to Nato pact instead ?? {g}
>
>Peace :)