... State, Henry Kissinger, and the last U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union, Jack Matlock, warned in no uncertain terms that NATO expansion would be a serious mistake. In an open letter to President Bill Clinton at the end of June 1997, fifty former US senators, cabinet secretaries and ambassadors, as well as US arms control and foreign policy specialists, stated their belief that “the current US-led effort to expand NATO … is a policy error of historic importance.” https://www.rt.com/usa/312964-kissinger-breaking-russia-ukraine/ http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2015/08/21/425670/Kissinger-Russia-great-power- ...
... determination to get rid of Assad are not those being publicly stated. Not that US motivations are necessarily sinister. Most likely, they follow from aims and objectives that are not unreasonable, but which would not wash well in public debate. Those who make foreign policy decisions know very well that international relations are more about power, prestige, and economic interests than about high-flown moral principles. They also know that such motivations do not usually sound good in public. Arguments from ...
... Review Andrei Kozyrev, the first and most pro-Western Russian Foreign Minister to date, wrote: The situation of the Russian-speaking population in states of the former USSR presents a considerable and complex problem for the Russian Federation's foreign policy and diplomacy. We are counting on support from the NATO member nations to help ensure protection for the rights, life and dignity of the Russian minorities. It is now more widely understood that this is not only a major humanitarian problem - the global task of guaranteeing respect for human rights - ...