Some of the recent literature on negotiations at the end of the Cold War regarding German reunification and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has deflected attention from an important policy problem that arose during subsequent deliberations about whether to enlarge the membership of NATO. Newly released U.S. and Russian archival materials highlight this problem very clearly, namely, how leaders manage tradeoffs and uncertainty. Pursuing one set of interests can harm the achievement of other interests. At times, policies take a while to form, adding to uncertainty in relations between countries. This article highlights the ways U.S. President Bill Clinton and his top advisers convinced themselves that they could both enlarge NATO and keep Russia on a Western-oriented track, despite Russian President Boris Yeltsin's repeated warnings to the contrary.

中文翻译：

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北约扩大与价值复杂性问题

最近关于冷战结束时关于德国统一和北大西洋公约组织（北约）谈判的一些文献转移了人们对随后关于是否扩大北约成员国的审议中出现的一个重要政策问题的注意力。新发布的美国和俄罗斯档案材料非常清楚地突出了这个问题，即领导人如何管理权衡和不确定性。追求一组利益可能会损害其他利益的实现。有时，政策的形成需要一段时间，这增加了国家间关系的不确定性。这篇文章重点介绍了美国总统比尔克林顿和他的高级顾问如何说服自己，尽管俄罗斯总统鲍里斯叶利钦，他们都可以扩大北约并使俄罗斯保持在西方导向的轨道上