Donnacha Ó Beacháin

He was very scarred.

In Dresden, you know, there was the Stasi, which was the East German secret police.

And then there was the KGB element of which he was a part.

And, you know, as the popular mobilization, the democratic impulse took hold.

I mean, is NATO enlargement, as the Kremlin would maintain, is that the cause of Russia's imperial actions towards its neighbors?

Or...

Is it Russian imperial actions towards its neighbors that leads to NATO enlargement?

Because, you know, when Russia expands, it expands through invasion and occupation.

When NATO or the EU enlarges, it does so usually because a country petitions to join.

There is a process.

You have to get the consensus of all existing members.

And it can take years in the case of the EU.

Oh, absolutely.

And I think you've hit the nail on the head there that, you know, all those three leaders that you mentioned to varying degrees and with different tactics and strategies and perspectives and temperaments converge on this desire for a sphere of influence.

So Donald Trump has said, you know, he wants Canada to be the 51st state.

He wants Greenland and indeed has Canada.

made all sorts of threats to Denmark and indeed, you might say, Europe collectively and his NATO allies, who he constantly refers to as them or they.

It's not we.

He talks about getting Panama back.

You know, he is certainly looking for at least hemispheric, you know, dominance.