THE inception of the current crisis on Ukraine lies in the continuing eastward expansion of NATO. Contrary to what was promised to Russia by the United States in the post-Soviet period that NATO would not expand eastward, all the East European countries and the Baltic states, which were part of the Warsaw Treaty were brought into the NATO. Russia now fears that Ukraine and Georgia, that were part of the Soviet Union, are next in line. Having NATO on its borders is seen as a direct security threat to Russia.