No state has no power, so there are no "pawns" but it's very clear which states have significantly more power such that the less powerful states moves become vi

No state has no power, so there are no "pawns" but it's very clear which states have significantly more power such that the less powerful states moves become virtually irrelevant to predicting outcomes based on the state of things. It's like big O notation when you zero out the constant factors. I'm only commenting on why what's happening is happening, not whether it "should" be happening or not. Why states act the way they do is something you can study independent of what you want them to be doing. I explained in my previous comments why Russia is behaving the way they are and if you want to start to get an actual handle on that, check out what Mearsheimer and Caspian Report are saying. I won't be typing out the entire history and argument here. > No one invaded these countries and forced them to be part of NATO However, this part isn't true in anything but a pedantic sense. The US spends billions on propaganda, intelligence operations, NGOs, sanctions, capital financing and many other means to sway opinion and eliminate opposition to force themselves on other states as the preferable options. Violence is not the only mode of coercion. Again, this isn't some kind of moral judgement: they all do it, but some are more successful than others. To ignore this is just as naive as the comment I was responding to.