This is video footage of President Bush participates in a wreath laying ceremony at the War Memorial site in Kiev and gives remarks at the Bobiyar War Memorial Service.
Trip to Moscow and Kiev - 01 August 1991.
As the US military took over foreign policy from a Republican US Congress by urging NATO expansion in the 90s, the burden has lasted till this day.
The famous address by president Bush the elder in Kiev on 1 August 1991, it nearly sounds as if the American version of Nelson Mandela was speaking.
Tolerance nourishes hope. A priest wrote of glasnost: Today, more than ever the words of Paul the Apostle, spoken 2,000 years ago, ring out: They counted us among the dead, but look, we are alive. In Ukraine, in Russia, in Armenia, and the Baltics, the spirit of liberty thrives.
But freedom cannot survive if we let despots flourish or permit seemingly minor restrictions to multiply until they form chains, until they form shackles. Later today, I'll visit the monument at Babi Yar -- a somber reminder, a solemn reminder, of what happens when people fail to hold back the horrible tide of intolerance and tyranny.
Yet freedom is not the same as independence. Americans will not support those who seek independence in order to replace a far-off tyranny with a local despotism. They will not aid those who promote a suicidal nationalism based upon ethnic hatred.
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We are especially satisfied with the fact that you, Mr. President, came to our Republic right after the historic document, the Strategic Offensive Arms Reduction Treaty, had been signed in Moscow. The Ukrainian people consider this act as another concrete step towards the achievement of general and complete disarmament, toward a world without weapons and without wars.
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Ukraine, as we all know, is the motherland of many hundreds of thousands of Americans. In fact, back home in Washington, DC, stands a statue of the Ukrainian poet and painter Taras Shevchenko. Once, reflecting on the democratic experiment in America, he wrote this: "When will we have a Washington with a new and righteous law? One day we shall have him."
You are a strong people, and your rich and glorious past spans centuries of upheaval and change. You first brought Christianity to this part of Europe, this crossroads of Europe and Asia. Christianity took hold here over a thousand years ago when Prince Vladimir of Kiev baptized his followers in the Dnieper River.
NATO Expansion: What Gorbachev Heard | National Security Archive |
NATO and Russia: A Defensive Expansion?
NATO should have died with the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact. Instead, it is an unlikely institutional success story, now in its 72nd year of life, that adapted its role after its principal threat disappeared. However, despite a move towards a cooperative model with Russia in the early 1990s, it instead contributed to heightened tensions by destabilising the relationship between the two parties.
This essay traces the expansion process through memos, conversations, and academic debates of the period to show that despite its opposition to eastwards expansion, Russia made numerous concessions on the question and, despite nominally shifting to a more political role after the end of the Cold War, NATO continued to act as a realist military institution seeking zero-sum gains.
Further, by focussing on realist strategic outcomes rather than their political context, it was not only expansion itself that damaged NATO's relationship with Russia, but how it was conducted: the United States did not accord due importance to the perspective of its counterpart and ignored the political implications of how the expansion process unfolded. If expansion had been more politically aware and tactful, tensions between Russia and the West may have been tempered.
Former candidate for the Democratic nomination for US president Bill Bradley on the Cold War and Bill Clinton's lies to Russian president Yeltsin ...
VIDEO
A summary of most American war hawks preparing for Pax America and the New American Century.
Role Augustus: Pax Romana - 27 BCE and 180 CE
The Roman Republic became the Roman Empire in 27 BCE when Julius Caesar's adopted son, best known as Augustus, became the ruler of Rome. Augustus established an autocratic form of government, where he was the sole ruler and made all important decisions.
Although we refer to him as Rome's first emperor, Augustus never took the title of king or emperor, nor did his successors; they preferred to call themselves princeps, first citizen, or primus inter pares, first among peers. This choice of title maintained the appearance of limited power that had been so important under the Republic.
Many of the reforms enacted by Augustus and his successors had a deep and lasting impact on the internal political and economic structures of Rome.
Senate Hearing: The Debate On NATO Enlargement | Oct-Nov 1997 |
Hearing of October 22, 1997
Qualifications of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic for NATO
The Chairman Jesse Helms (R-NC). The committee will come to order.
Madam Secretary, as you know, we welcome you. We appreciate your being our lead-off witness as the Foreign Relations Committee begins its consideration of NATO expansion.
For nearly 50 years, NATO has defended democracy against communism and other forms of tyranny in Europe. Despite that success, many Americans will never forget the betrayal at Yalta which left millions of Europeans behind enemy lines.
Today, with the expansion of the NATO alliance, we have an historic opportunity to right that wrong by accepting Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic into NATO. All Americans should welcome these nations as they finally become equal partners in a community of democratic nations, thereby ensuring that their new democracies shall never again fall victim to tyranny.
Now, if Europe and the United States are to enjoy a century of peace, upcoming, one that does not replicate the bloody wars of the past century, we must embrace these democracies and guide them and show them away from their tragic histories of ethnic division and war.
That said, there's a right way and a wrong way to proceed with NATO expansion. We in the Senate recognize that this vital undertaking is not without cost to the United States, and I am convinced that the three new democracies are willing and eager to bear their fair share, but we must now make certain that our present NATO allies are likewise willing to fulfill their end of the bargain.
Just last week our allies made clear to us that they expect the United States, meaning the American taxpayers, to pay the lion's share of the cost of expansion. Now, Madam Secretary, ratification of NATO expansion by the U.S. Senate may very well succeed or fail on the question of whether you can dissuade our allies of that notion.
Further, we must resist any temptation by the leadership of our country to rush forward into an ill-considered NATO partnership with Russia. Now, while the United States is willing to take steps to demonstrate that NATO represents absolutely no threat to a democratic Russia, NATO's relations with Russia must be restrained by the reality that Russia's future commitment to peace and democracy, as of this date, is
far from certain. In fact, I confess a fear that the United States' overture toward Russia may have already gone a bit far.
NATO Expansion Senate Hearing | C-span - Oct 1997 |
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee heard testimony from Secretary of State Madeleine Albright about the issue of NATO expansion. She spoke about the inclusion of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. She testified about the importance of NATO expansion to the security of emerging democracies in Eastern Europe. Sec. Albright also talked about the financing of NATO expansion by current members.
Prepared statement by Henry Kissinger on US-Russia relations ...
Build-in in fallacy as it was the founding of the EEC and later the European Union with its commitment to peace through economic ties that consolidated peace in Europe. Was NATO ever awarded the Nobel Prize?
What is the military threat that NATO expansion is designed to counter? How does expansion increase the security of Europe and the American people?
Administration's Response: Europe's security is a vital American interest, as we have seen through two world wars and the Cold War. Over the past half century, NATO has been our primary shield to protect that interest. With the Cold War over, NATO remains the foundation of trans Atlantic security. A larger, stronger NATO that includes Europe's new democracies will be even better able to provide for Europe's security and make America safer. It will help deter future threats, expand our collective defense capability to address traditional and non traditional security challenges and secure the historic gains of democracy in Europe. It is a key part of our strategy to build an undivided, democratic, peaceful Europe for the first time in history.
NATO's very existence is an important reason its current members and prospective new members face no imminent threat of attack. By adding new members to its strength, the world's most effective deterrent force will be even better able to prevent conflict from arising in the first place.
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The alliance must be prepared for other contingencies, including the possibility that Russia could abandon democracy and return to the threatening behavior of the Soviet period, although we see such a turn as unlikely. Through our policy of engaging Russia we seek to provide strong incentives to deepen its commitment to democracy and peaceful relations with its neighbors. These efforts, combined with the process of NATO enlargement and the NATO Russia Founding Act, increase the likelihood that Russia will continue on the path of democratic and peaceful development.
Endgame in NATO's Enlargement: The Baltic States and Ukraine
| By Yaroslav Bilinsky - 1998 |
Related reading ...
World In Turmoil: Role of Brzezinski and Albright, Our Democrats | by Oui - Aug 2, 2014 |
Brzezinski blasts 'Bush's hollow fiction of Iraq war' | by Jerome a Paris - Jul 1, 2005 |
Bush, a liar taking the USA on a suicidal path. Pretty strong stuff...
The End of Conventional Arms Control and the Role of US Congress
Same strong words can be said of US path of NATO expansion and confrontation with Russia. Stop dreaming ...
Additional diaries on history relations Russia and Europe …
