“To have avoided “another Cold War,” all the U.S. need have done is welcomed Russia as a friend after 1991, just as it welcomed West Germany and Japan as friends after 1945.”
And that’s what happened. The US helped Russia safely dispose of millions of tons of chemical weapons, we helped them reprocess old nuclear material into nuclear fuel that they sold for a profit, we invested in Russia creating millions of good jobs...and then Putin took power and now the USSR is struggling to rise from the grave.
Newt Gingrich at one time even wanted Russia to join NATO!
That ended with Putin. Now it’s time to put an end to Ruzzian aggression and Ruzzian imperialism and if someone can kill Putin then all the better! So much better than letting him go on trial in The Hague.
Doesn't matter what Newt wanted. What matters is, did NATO actually invite Russia to join?
I've always heard that Russia wanted to join NATO, but the Neocons blocked them. So Russia was never able to join.