Word: nato
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...known in France, which makes his outburst all the more surprising. He was one of the few French politicians to back the U.S.- and Britain-led war in Iraq, and he has long championed both countries' relatively pro-Israel positions in the Middle East. A foreign policy wonk and NATO enthusiast, Lellouche has become a familiar figure in London, Washington and New York over the years, huddling with British and American politicians to influence decision-making on both sides of the Atlantic. However, his reputation for being somewhat of a loose cannon prevented him from being tapped for a government...
...same day that the U.S., Russia and others were negotiating with Iran in Vienna, Vice President Joe Biden was in Warsaw confirming plans to deploy Patriot ground-to-air missiles in Poland, and a U.S. official said in Tbilisi that "the process of Georgia's deeper integration into NATO is very important." No statement was likely to trouble Russia more...
Russia can do little more than fuss about actions like the planned missile-defense shield in the Czech Republic and Poland that was recently scrapped by the Obama administration. But it has a much more powerful hand in non-NATO member countries, where the alliance is less willing to intervene directly. It has been suggested that last year’s war between Russia and Georgia, which resulted in Russia’s recognition of the independence of the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, was a retaliation against U.S. support of Ukraine and Georgia’s NATO...
Even disregarding Russian policies, the political divide between West and East has barely decreased since 1989. Ukraine is the only non-NATO country to be rated “free” in Freedom House’s most recent analysis of the former Soviet Socialist Republics, and even democratic Ukraine is the focus of Russian attempts to influence its presidential election in January. Although Western brand names are making inroads in many of these countries, opening stores and making goods available that would have been unheard of in communist days, democratic elections and free speech are often still lacking...
There is no doubt that 1989 was a miraculous year. The countries of Eastern Europe that the Soviet Union had held under tight political control, under threat of military invasion, broke free of this yoke, and many went on to join NATO and the European Union. But as we celebrate the anniversary of the fall of communism in Central Europe, we should remember that not every country behind the Iron Curtain followed the path of those that have successfully entered the fold of Western Europe. Joyous Berliners broke down their wall 20 years ago today—but with Russia?...