NATO Expansion After the End of the USSR

Impacts for Russian Security and Global Geopolitics

Abstract

The current process of NATO expansion appears to have been the limit acceptable to the Kremlin. The purpose of this study is to point out the historical precedents that lead to  opposition, on the part of the Russian government, to NATO's expansion towards the countries that made up the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, in particular Ukraine. Reflection on Russia's tensions with the West gains historical relevance as these concerns can reorganize global geopolitics.