The editorial titled “ Putin’s Fear of People Power ” was "spot on” in its descriptions of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s fear and loathing of anything vaguely reminiscent of a free and open society. Many ordinary Russians know this because they’ve witnessed President for-life-Putin’s two-decade assault on any quasi-independent broadcast or print outlet, to say nothing of the jailed dissidents and newly-arrested protestors locked up since the first tanks rolled into Ukraine.
However, author Cynthia Kaplan misspoke when she said NATO had not expanded since 2004. And that the EU and U.S. had done nothing to further fuel Russia’s sense of grievance.
In September 2017, Montenegro, a tiny country (pop. 640,000) with a deep-water port of critical strategic importance to Russia’s naval ambitions on the Adriatic, joined NATO, much to Putin’s vocal condemnation, anger, and chagrin. The Republic of Northern Macedonia joined NATO in 2020. (See: Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) July 2018).