Changes

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 with [[Hungary]], the [[Czech Republic]], and [[Poland]] added, extending 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>

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 with [[Hungary]], the [[Czech Republic]], and [[Poland]] added, extending 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>

==US domestic opposition==

==Clinton era betrayal==

As the ''[[New York Times]]'' wrote back in 1998, "Ben & Jerry's is against expanding NATO. So is [[Phyllis Schlafly]], the arch-conservative activist. ... 'It would obligate us to go to war to defend the borders in Eastern Europe,' said Mrs. Schlafly, who founded the 80,000-member Eagle Forum. 'We don't think that's an [[American]] responsibility. We see this as one [[Bosnia]] after another.'<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/21/world/bedfellows-of-every-stripe-in-nato-fray.html</ref>  NATO was never intended to be "the world's policeman," nor is it an enforcement arm or extension of the [[United Nations]].  [[President Donald Trump]] was highly critical of how the United States has been saddled with the bulk of the cost throughout its history while [[Europe]] has not paid its agreed upon mandated share of defense costs.

As the ''[[New York Times]]'' wrote back in 1998, "Ben & Jerry's is against expanding NATO. So is [[Phyllis Schlafly]], the arch-conservative activist. ... 'It would obligate us to go to war to defend the borders in Eastern Europe,' said Mrs. Schlafly, who founded the 80,000-member Eagle Forum. 'We don't think that's an [[American]] responsibility. We see this as one [[Bosnia]] after another.'<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/21/world/bedfellows-of-every-stripe-in-nato-fray.html</ref>  NATO was never intended to be "the world's policeman," nor is it an enforcement arm or extension of the [[United Nations]].  [[President Donald Trump]] was highly critical of how the United States has been saddled with the bulk of the cost throughout its history while [[Europe]] has not paid its agreed upon mandated share of defense costs.