NATO is clearly a tool to press the russians. What do you when you are pressed against a wall. do you get more quiet? I certainly do, while I choose where to hit forcefully.
Since security needs of all countries involved are real, an alternative to NATO must appear. I can see only reason for hope: as the american economy brcomes weaker, their military strenght must be reduced. (I dont see political leadership in our continent, so changes must originate from elsewhere.)
Balance is what we need, but we seem to have polities in various places that doesn't do balance. "Old Europe" does do balance a bit more - and gets called wimpy for its pains. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
