Anti-Expansion: Bernie is against the expansion of NATO because it provokes unnecessary aggression from Russia. Moreover, he believes European nations should fund more of the costs of an alliance primarily intended to protect their continent.
Wow, this is incredibly terrible policy. I didn't know Bernie's foreign policy was
that naive.
Anti-Expansion: Bernie is against the expansion of NATO because it provokes unnecessary aggression from Russia. Moreover, he believes European nations should fund more of the costs of an alliance primarily intended to protect their continent.
Ah yes. It's NATO who is provoking tensions with Russia, and not the Russians themselves. What a load of crap.
Where exactly do you want to expand NATO beyond its current borders? Unless you plan to add Ukraine or Georgia, which would be a huge provocation, NATO has pretty much reached the limit of its possible borders.
Reaction to aggression isn't provocation.
To answer your question in good faith: First priority, Finland and Sweden. The most likely target for Russian aggression in EU territory in the case of serious escalation is Gotland, which would severely limit NATO's ability to operate in the Baltic and to reinforce the Baltic States in case of invasion. Bringing these states under the collective security umbrella would significantly deter such an attack and so lessen the chance of serious conflict.
Second priority, Ireland, Austria, and Cyprus. Right now the EU's CSDP is defanged given most of its members prioritize collective defense via NATO. Consolidating the entirety of the EU within NATO would allow European defense to be developed in conjunction with rather than as an alternative to NATO.
Third priority, Ukraine and Georgia. These are the states where Russian aggression is at its height, and taking a forwards stance here is necessary to send a (very belated) signal to the world that such aggression is not acceptable.
Fourth priority, the rest of the Balkans, likely to happen in conjunction with EU accession.
Fifth priority, Belarus, Armenia and Russia, obviously after significant democratization and change in foreign policy in these countries. This will consolidate NATO as a truly pan-European security organization and begin the pivot to using the organization for containment of China, for which there was an opportunity in the '90s had there been better politicking by the Clinton and Yeltsin administrations. This is what I intend to spend my career attempting to accomplish.
Sixth priority, the Central Asian states, to complete this pivot.
Following this, the goal would be consolidating other friendly actors in the rest of the world into a single organization, eg Japan, South Korea, Australia/NZ, to create a truly global liberal internationalist bloc capable of promoting democracy and opposing threats to the world order wherever it is. But this would no longer be called NATO and will not be achieved until after I'm dead, so I'll stop there.
