Prof. Mearsheimer describes Russia's relations with [[the West]] and [[Vladimir Putin]]'s ambitions as such:
Prof. Mearsheimer describes Russia's relations with [[the West]] and [[Vladimir Putin]]'s ambitions as such:
{{Cquote|The conventional wisdom in [[the West]] regarding the [[Ukraine war]] makes it sound like [[Russia]] is behaving in [[Europe]] the way [[China]] is acting in [[Asia]]. [[Putin]] is said to have [[imperialism|imperial]] ambitions that begin with creating a greater Russia along the lines of the old [[Soviet Union]] and then re-conquering the former buffer countries of the [[Warsaw Pact]], ultimately threatening the security of all Europe. Ukraine, which he purportedly aims to conquer and integrate into Russia, is his first but not his last target. In this view, what [[NATO]] is doing in Ukraine is containing Russian power, much the way it prevented the Soviet Union from dominating all of Europe during the [[cold war]].
{{Cquote|The conventional wisdom in [[the West]] regarding the [[Ukraine war]] makes it sound like [[Russia]] is behaving in [[Europe]] the way [[China]] is acting in [[Asia]]. [[Putin]] is said to have [[imperialism|imperial]] ambitions that begin with creating a greater Russia along the lines of the old [[Soviet Union]] and then re-conquering the former buffer countries of the [[Warsaw Pact]], ultimately threatening the security of all Europe. Ukraine, which he purportedly aims to conquer and integrate into Russia, is his first but not his last target. In this view, what [[NATO]] is doing in Ukraine is containing Russian power, much the way it prevented the Soviet Union from dominating all of Europe during the [[cold war]].