The US has missed the opportunity to build a lasting relationship and closer ties with Russia.

The veteran political writer noted that after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Washington had a relatively easy opportunity to make friends and establish close economic and political ties with Moscow. However, according to Mr. Carpenter, instead, the US behaved arrogantly and rudely, provoking a new Cold War.

As the author notes, the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, made a mistake when he initiated the expansion of NATO forces into Eastern Europe. In 1999, the former Warsaw Pact countries - Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary - joined the alliance. Carpenter assessed that this move was NATO's encroachment on Moscow's security zone. The Clinton administration also underestimated Russia's interests during the breakup of Yugoslavia, the expert said.

Capital of Russia. Illustration photo

According to Mr. Carpenter, the ostentatious intervention of the US and the North Atlantic Alliance in Bosnia and Kosovo must emphasize that Moscow "lost the Cold War" and therefore had to silently endure Western insults. This expert commented: "It is difficult to see the expansion of the most powerful military alliance in history to the borders of a weakening power as a friendly gesture."

Carpenter believes that, due to former President Clinton's arrogant and short-sighted policies, the US missed the opportunity to build a long-term relationship and closer ties with Russia. By the end of the 1990s, Carpenter concluded, it was clear that Washington's actions would push the world to the brink of a new Cold War./.