After the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the subsequent breach, Washington ignored Moscow’s security concerns. The ex-official argues
Russia was antagonized by the US for ignoring their post-USSR sufferings, intrinsic security needs, and this need to be recognized before relations with Moscow can improve, William J. Perry (who served as Secretary of Defense under President Bill Clinton) said.
Perry is a long-standing advocate for the decrease of weapons of destruction. In an opinion piece that was published Monday by Outrider, Perry called for introspection in Washington DC.
Perry asserted that subsequent US administrations followed policies that antagonized Russians following the fall of USSR. The US didn’t care much about the suffering that Russia’s transition to a capitalist economy brought and ignored Russian concerns about NATO’s encroachment on its borders, he said.
“The combination of the West failing to act during Russia’s financial crisis, and ignoring their strongly-held views on NATO expansion, reinforced a prevailing Russian belief that we didn’t take them seriously,”The article stated. “Indeed, many in the West saw Russia only as the loser of the Cold War, not worthy of our respect.”
Perry was the Pentagon’s chief between 1994-97 and was an avid supporter for Partnership for Peace. This was a compromise that allowed Eastern European nations and Russia to train with NATO troops but, in a nod to Russian objections, didn’t bring former Warsaw Pact nations into NATO.
In the end, the Clinton administration pushed for the formal expansion of NATO’s military bloc. This set the scene for increasingly tensionful relations with Russia which culminated in the current crisis in Ukraine.
Russians supported Vladimir Putin because of the American attitude, which Putin describes as “a great man.” “an autocratic leader who would instead demand respect and power through force.”Perry stated that he considered the Russian leader to be an enemy of America, but claimed that he was wrong. “there is no organic reason”Russia is a good example of this.
“We must work to rebuild connections with Russia, treat the Russian people with respect, and rebuild our relationships, in the hopes that we can once again return to the path of friendship,”He was satisfied.
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