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→November 2013
===November 2013===
===November 2013===
The NATO organization was founded on the solitary premise of collective security to [[Containment|contain Soviet expansion in Europe]]. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992, many questioned the need for it's continued existence against an enemy that no longer existed. Several former Soviet satalite states (East Germany, Poland, Hungary, Romania, the Czech and Slovak Republics) as well as newly independent former Soviet Republics (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Georgia and Ukraine) wanted EU membership, which of coarse would ultimately mean NATO membership, as well (military alliances exist to protect economic alliances). Russia under [[Boris Yeltsin]] wanted EU and NATO membership. The NATO powers that be made clear they had no interest in going out of business, and Russia argued how unfair it was that they should dissolve their defense alliance (the [[Warsaw Pact]]) and be thrust into another arms race with against a growing NATO, which was swallowing up many of Russia's former military allies.
But the case of Ukraine was unique. Ethnic Ukrainians wanted out of the Russian orbit. But the territory of Ukraine is inhabitted by nearly 50% ethnic Russians, too, who wanted to maintain close ties to Russia. The official US State Department's position under President [[George Herbert Walker Bush]] at the time was that the Ukraine should remain a sovereign republic within the Russian Federation. Bush argued as much in a speech written by [[Condoleza Rice]] to the Ukrainian parliament. But the Clinton's took over in early 1993, and caved in to Ukrainian [[nationalist]]s. In exchange for US recognition of a Ukraine independent of the Russian Federation, Ukraine would give up it nuclear stockpile from the Soviet era, and the US would guarantee Ukraine's security should the Russians ever invade. The agreement reeked a lot like the assurances Great Britain and France gave Poland at the [[Treaty of Versailles]] in 1919 that bound them to war with [[Hitler]] in 1939 when Hitler invaded Poland.
*'''1 November.''' Snowden leaks reveal Britain's GCHQ and other European spy agencies work together to conduct mass surveillance. The files also make clear that GCHQ played a leading role in advising its European counterparts how to work around laws intended to restrict the surveillance power of intelligence agencies. ''The Guardian'' article reports,<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/01/gchq-europe-spy-agencies-mass-surveillance-snowden</ref>[[File:450px-Edward Snowden 2013-10-9 (1) (cropped).jpg|right|225px|thumb|[[Edward Snowden]] warned of such abuse played out in 2016 and 2017: an [[Executive branch]] with unlimited. unrestrained power to spy on investigative Committees of Congress, political opponents, and even the Supreme Court.]]
*'''1 November.''' Snowden leaks reveal Britain's GCHQ and other European spy agencies work together to conduct mass surveillance. The files also make clear that GCHQ played a leading role in advising its European counterparts how to work around laws intended to restrict the surveillance power of intelligence agencies. ''The Guardian'' article reports,<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/01/gchq-europe-spy-agencies-mass-surveillance-snowden</ref>[[File:450px-Edward Snowden 2013-10-9 (1) (cropped).jpg|right|225px|thumb|[[Edward Snowden]] warned of such abuse played out in 2016 and 2017: an [[Executive branch]] with unlimited. unrestrained power to spy on investigative Committees of Congress, political opponents, and even the Supreme Court.]]
{{Quotebox|It is clear from the Snowden documents that GCHQ has become Europe's intelligence hub in the internet age, and not just because of its success in creating a legally permissive environment for its operations. Britain's location as the European gateway for many transatlantic cables, and its privileged relationship with the NSA has made GCHQ an essential partner for European agencies. The documents show British officials frequently lobbying the NSA on sharing of data with the Europeans and haggling over its security classification so it can be more widely disseminated. In the intelligence world, far more than it managed in diplomacy, Britain has made itself an indispensable bridge between America and Europe's spies.}}
{{Quotebox|It is clear from the Snowden documents that GCHQ has become Europe's intelligence hub in the internet age, and not just because of its success in creating a legally permissive environment for its operations. Britain's location as the European gateway for many transatlantic cables, and its privileged relationship with the NSA has made GCHQ an essential partner for European agencies. The documents show British officials frequently lobbying the NSA on sharing of data with the Europeans and haggling over its security classification so it can be more widely disseminated. In the intelligence world, far more than it managed in diplomacy, Britain has made itself an indispensable bridge between America and Europe's spies.}}