NATO to Expand? (UPDATE: Yes and No)

As President Bush visits Ukraine on his way to Bucharest, Romania to attend his final NATO summit before leaving office, Stephen Green asks some pertinent questions regarding the prospect of former Soviet republics joining NATO--questions like this one: what would NATO do if Russia attacks one of them?

NATO isn’t a defensive alliance anymore. It’s a club. It’s a very nice club of very nice countries, and it even has a very nice clubhouse — er, headquarters — in Belgium. But it’s an alliance without a plan...[SNIP]

And while it probably wouldn’t hurt to let in a couple more members, two questions need to be asked. What would they contribute? And what would be our responsibilities?

As one might imagine, Russian (President? Prime Minister?) Vladimir Putin isn’t thrilled about the prospect of a NATO-allied Ukraine, etc., but for different reasons than those of the Vodkapundit, even threatening “to point nuclear weapons toward Ukraine if it establishes NATO bases in the country.” (That Vlad is such a card, no? Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko certain thinks so. You remember him, don’t you?)

The way Putin has been behaving lately—as if he misses the old days--answers at least one of Stephen’s implicit questions; that is, against which enemy would NATO cast itself on behalf of, say, the NATO-aligned Republic of Georgia? Bigger questions loom from there, however. Other than the US and the Brits, would NATO really go to bat for Ukraine? And even if it did, what would the repercussions be? And…

You know things were far more simple twenty-five years ago.

(Thanks to Instapundit)

AFTERTHOUGHT: And it is one indeed. Russia will have a new president soon: Dmitry Medvedev. The most fun thing about him so far is listening to non-Russian speakers attempt to pronounce his last name.

UPDATE: NATO say no to Bush.

President Bush suffered a painful diplomatic setback Wednesday when NATO allies rebuffed his passionate pleas to put former Soviet republics Ukraine and Georgia on the path toward membership in the Western military alliance.

The decision, to be made final on Thursday, was sure to be cheered by Moscow, which heatedly opposes NATO's eastward expansion.

In another sign of discord, Greece blocked Macedonia's request to join the 26-nation alliance because of a dispute over its name. Only Croatia and Albania will be invited as new members