NATO Expansion

In “Oxymoron of Serious Senate Debate” (Opinion, May 3), regarding NATO, the opinion of Charles Kupchan is correct. Since the demise of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, Russia is at the crossroads between democracy and totalitarianism.

If NATO is expanded by the admission of Central and Eastern European countries eastward toward Russia’s borders, many of which have strong anti-Russian feelings, this can only give rise to the extreme nationalists within Russia, who can once again turn Russia into a totalitarian state and a danger to the world.

JOEL W. GRAY

Huntington Beach