Changes

President [[George H.W. Bush]] had assured Gorbachev during the Malta summit in December 1989 that the U.S. would not take advantage (‘I have not jumped up and down on the Berlin Wall”) of the revolutions in Eastern Europe to harm Soviet interests.’”}}

President [[George H.W. Bush]] had assured Gorbachev during the Malta summit in December 1989 that the U.S. would not take advantage (‘I have not jumped up and down on the Berlin Wall”) of the revolutions in Eastern Europe to harm Soviet interests.’”}}

After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, depriving NATO of its original reason for being, skeptics of the alliance included [[liberal]]s as much as [[conservative]]s.  In 1998, 10 Democratic Senators joined nine Republicans in opposing the first, fateful round of NATO enlargement, which would soon extend the alliance to Russia’s border.

In May 1995 President [[Bill Clinton]] was invited to [[Moscow]] for the 50th anniversary celebrations of the victory over [[Hitler]].  In Moscow, Russian President [[Boris Yeltsin]] berated Clinton about NATO expansion, seeing “nothing but humiliation” for Russia: “For me to agree to the borders of NATO expanding towards those of Russia – that would constitute a betrayal on my part of the Russian people.”<ref>https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/russia-programs/2021-11-24/nato-expansion-budapest-blow-1994</ref>

Among the dissenters was Senator [[Paul Wellstone]] of Minnesota.  In between voting against the first Iraq war in 1991 and the second after Sept. 11, Sen. Wellstone warned that expanding NATO would jeopardize Europe’s hard-won gains. “There is peace between states in Europe, between nations in Europe, for the first time in centuries,” he said. “We do not have a divided Europe, and I worry about a NATO expansion which could redivide Europe and again poison relations with Russia.”<ref>https://quincyinst.org/2021/06/14/sorry-liberals-but-you-really-shouldnt-love-nato/</ref>

After the Soviet Union collapsed depriving NATO of its original reason for existence, skeptics of the alliance included [[liberal]]s as much as [[conservative]]s.  In 1998, 10 Democratic Senators joined nine Republicans in opposing the first, fateful round of NATO enlargement, which would soon extend the alliance to Russia’s border.  Among the dissenters was Senator [[Paul Wellstone]] of Minnesota.  In between voting against the first Iraq war in 1991 and the second after Sept. 11, Sen. Wellstone warned that expanding NATO would jeopardize Europe’s hard-won gains. “There is peace between states in Europe, between nations in Europe, for the first time in centuries,” he said. “We do not have a divided Europe, and I worry about a NATO expansion which could redivide Europe and again poison relations with Russia.”<ref>https://quincyinst.org/2021/06/14/sorry-liberals-but-you-really-shouldnt-love-nato/</ref>

=== Kosovo ===

=== Kosovo ===