Feb. 26, 2022 1:15p
(WGTD)---In a sense, the U.S. and its allies provoked the Russian invasion of Ukraine with wrong-headed policies that date back to the Clinton administration, according to Art Cyr, Clausen Distinguished Prof. of Political Economy and World Business at Carthage College.
"From my point of view, we have been extraordinarily misguided starting with the Clinton administration in trying to encourage expansion of the European Union and in particular the NATO alliance right up to Russia's borders," Cyr said on WGTD's Morning Show.
While those policies took root in the Clinton administration, President Geroge W. Bush promoted the thinking in a much more aggressive manner, Cyr said. "George W. Bush became quite talented at this. The broad rhetoric often referring to Christianity as well as democratic values...makes no sense in the real world of nation states," he said.
"This is not professorial 2020 hindsight. I was alarmed throughout the administration by the behavior. The invasion of Iraq was the worst blunder. But this effort to expand NATO right up to Russia's borders--big mistake," Cyr said.
The policies led to Russia's invasion of Georgia in 2008, and now Ukraine.
In addition to attempting to secure a buffer between NATO countries and Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin is undoubtedly interested in Ukraine's assets "given the fact that Russia is a failing state, politically as well as economically and demographically."
The full Morning Show featuring Art Cyr is archived here.
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