Jack F. Matlock, Jr. | I was there: NATO and the origins of the Ukraine crisis | published Feb 15, 2022
After the fall of the Soviet Union, I told the Senate that expansion would lead us to where we are today.
"NATO expansion was the most profound strategic blunder made since the
end of the Cold War. In 1997, when the question of adding more NATO
members arose, I was asked to testify before the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee. In my introductory remarks, I made the following
statement:
"I consider the administration’s recommendation to take new members into NATO at this time misguided. If it should be approved by the United States Senate, it may well go down in history as the most profound strategic blunder made since the end of the Cold War. Far from improving the security of the United States, its Allies, and the nations that wish to enter the Alliance, it could well encourage a chain of events that could produce the most serious security threat to this nation since the Soviet Union collapsed." Indeed, our nuclear arsenals were capable of ending the possibility of civilization on Earth.
"I consider the administration’s recommendation to take new members into NATO at this time misguided. If it should be approved by the United States Senate, it may well go down in history as the most profound strategic blunder made since the end of the Cold War. Far from improving the security of the United States, its Allies, and the nations that wish to enter the Alliance, it could well encourage a chain of events that could produce the most serious security threat to this nation since the Soviet Union collapsed." Indeed, our nuclear arsenals were capable of ending the possibility of civilization on Earth.
Article at Responsible Statecraft published Feb 15, 2022
Full article at American Committee for US-Russia Accord published Feb 14, 2022
