NATO's Eastern Extension: What is at Stake?

Dmitri Trenin, deputy director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, appeared on the English-language Russia Today to discuss the state of affairs after the recent April NATO summit in Bucharest. Trenin laid out the various motivations behind the Bush administration's decision to push the issue of Georgian and Ukrainian membership and analyzed the recent dynamics of U.S.-Russian relations. Trenin noted the uncertainty surrounding the summit and the divisions within the NATO alliance. He argued that many countries who most recently joined NATO did so to achieve a security guarantee against a resurgent Russia, whereas Ukraine is far more divided internally with regard to Ukrainians' view of Russia. Western European members are more concerned about other issues, such as Afghanistan, Trenin said, whereas Eastern European members are still concerned about Russia.