This article argues that NATO enlargement, while stabilizing Central and Eastern Europe, still undermined other aspects of European security over the long term. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, US administrations pursued three ambitious policies: they expanded NATO, but also its geographic scope, and they ensured that no alternative European security architectures could compete with NATO. Through interviews with US officials, the article shows a preoccupation with instability in Europe and elsewhere, an institutional predisposition to maintaining the centrality of NATO, and a lack of constraints on US policies by Russia or Europe. In the end, these contradictory policies diluted European strategic cohesion and overburdened European militaries, while expanding the commitments inherent to the alliance.

中文翻译：

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抢地：美国大战略，北约扩张和欧洲分裂

本文认为，北约的扩大，虽然稳定了中欧和东欧，但从长远来看仍然破坏了欧洲安全的其他方面。在整个1990年代和2000年代，美国政府奉行三项雄心勃勃的政策：它们扩大了北约，但也扩大了北约的地理范围，并确保没有其他欧洲安全架构可以与北约竞争。通过与美国官员的访谈，文章显示出对欧洲和其他地区动荡的关注，保持北约中心地位的体制性倾向，以及俄罗斯或欧洲对美国政策的限制。最终，这些矛盾的政策削弱了欧洲的战略凝聚力，并使欧洲军队负担过重，同时扩大了该联盟固有的承诺。