Neutrality Studies

NATO's New Plans To Destroy Russia | Prof. Jeffrey Sachs

26 snips
Aug 31, 2026
Jeffrey Sachs, economist and policy scholar known for work on development and geopolitics, discusses the Ukraine conflict as a long-running US proxy struggle with Russia. He examines NATO expansion, broken post‑Cold War promises, elite interests driving militarism, and risks of escalation. He also outlines a path to peace centered on neutrality and stopping further expansion.
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INSIGHT

Ukraine As A Long Running US Proxy Effort

  • Jeffrey Sachs frames the Ukraine conflict as a long-running US proxy effort aiming at American primacy that traces back to post-1991 policy choices.
  • He links NATO enlargement decisions in the 1990s to a deliberate strategy to limit Russian influence across Eurasia.
INSIGHT

NATO Enlargement Broke Post Cold War Promises

  • Sachs argues NATO enlargement contradicted explicit 1990–91 assurances to Mikhail Gorbachev and undermined trust central to German reunification deals.
  • He cites the mid-1990s decision to enlarge NATO as a turning point that dismissed those earlier promises.
ANECDOTE

Yanukovych's Neutrality And The 2014 Coup

  • Sachs recounts Viktor Yanukovych's 2010 electoral victory based on neutrality and keeping a balance with Russia and Europe.
  • He claims the U.S. could not tolerate Ukrainian neutrality, linking the 2014 overthrow to that intolerance.
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