I appreciate the authors' retort to the question, "Did NATO enlargement provoke Russia to aggression?" As they point out, "it seems to tacitly assume that the Russian sphere of influence in East-Central Europe still exists."
However, we should also value the realist insight, "If you do X, you're liable to get Y. If you want to do X anyway because of the principle of the thing, then go ahead. Just don't feign shock and deny any share of responsibility when you get Y."
There are false assumptions that nonetheless have the power to assert themselves. We ignore them at our peril and at the peril of innocent third parties.
I appreciate the authors' retort to the question, "Did NATO enlargement provoke Russia to aggression?" As they point out, "it seems to tacitly assume that the Russian sphere of influence in East-Central Europe still exists."
However, we should also value the realist insight, "If you do X, you're liable to get Y. If you want to do X anyway because of the principle of the thing, then go ahead. Just don't feign shock and deny any share of responsibility when you get Y."
There are false assumptions that nonetheless have the power to assert themselves. We ignore them at our peril and at the peril of innocent third parties.