For 20 years, NATO and European security policy have been guided by four flawed strategic assumptions. First, Western leaders assumed that Russia had become a benign power and that inter-state threats to European security were therefore no longer a concern. Second, because NATO’s core mission -- collective defense -- was no longer a compelling reason to keep the alliance together, leaders argued that NATO needed to go “out of area or out of business.” NATO consequently expanded its membership and took on a new array of global missions.
Russia's War Against Ukraine
Foreign Affairs: NATO’s biggest mistake
Ukrainian soldier stands at the checkpoint in Sloviansk, east of Ukraine.
