No. 1: The NATO excuse
A widely offered explanation for the Russian invasion of Ukraine is that Russia — which at this time essentially means President Vladimir Putin — fears the expansion of NATO to its borders, especially Ukraine. The argument is often presented as an analogy: How would the United States react if Mexico had a mutual defense pact with Russia and received weapons from Russia?
A second explanation is that Russia is “paranoid” as a result of its having been devastated by the invasions of Napoleon’s France in the 19th century and Hitler’s Germany in the 20th. This…
