UPDATED Feb 2022 for additional links and text updates for clarity. A little story I want to tell about the Russian Federation and the expansion of NATO under the direction of the US Government. NOTE: Conversational quotes are paraphases of actual statements. 1991: the Soviet Union dissolution was largely complete. All the former members of the Union were now their own nation states and several of the more radically evolving nations (like Poland) were already being approached by NATO and Europe (who was in proto-EU stages) for membership in their treaties.