Russia: As The Winds Do Change! (Part 4)

Ever wondered who owns NATO – first two guesses do not count!

Hello,

When Gorbachev was asked if the former U.S. Secretary of State, James Baker, really promised him that NATO would not expand eastward if the Soviet Union supported the unification of Germany and united Germany’s NATO membership, Gorbachev answers: “He didn’t promise it to me. He promised it to the whole World!” (Link)

This seems to be one of the most serious mistakes by the USA, the fact that they did not uphold their end of the bargain about NATO.

Background:

“In February 1990, after talks with West Germany’s foreign minister, Secretary of State James Baker had assured Gorbachev and [then Soviet Foreign Minister, later Georgian President Eduard] Shevardnadze that ‘NATO’s jurisdiction would not shift one inch eastward from its present position.’ The [first] Bush administration began backing away from that pledge almost immediately. The Clinton administration reneged on that commitment altogether when it decided to expand NATO to Eastern Europe. …

“‘The issue is not just whether Czechs, Hungarians and Poles join NATO. The problem is more serious: the rejection of the strategy for a new, common European system agreed to by myself and all the Western leaders when we ended the Cold War,’ Mikhail Gorbachev wrote in March 1999. ‘I feel betrayed by the West. The opportunity we seized on behalf of peace has been lost. The whole idea of a new world order has been completely abandoned.'” *

*- From the book “Hang Separately: Cooperative Security Between the United States and Russia, 1985-1994” by Leon V. Sigal, The Century Foundation Press, 2000.

Could Russia hold some deep resentment?

Seems the Wind is picking up speed now and the leaves are falling…..

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.