The NATO Expansionism. ~Preet When Russia launched a military invasion of Ukraine, the ostensible motive for this act of territorial aggression was the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's eastward expansion (NATO). NATO's expansionism threatened to enable Ukraine to join the alliance as a treaty partner at some unspecified moment in the future, bringing this transatlantic security coalition within striking distance of Russia's western frontiers. Earlier, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) held an emergency special session to consider a resolution calling for Russia to remove its troops unconditionally. NATO is a military alliance founded in April 1949 by the United States, Canada, and several Western European states to guarantee collective protection against the Soviet Union under the North Atlantic Treaty (also known as the Washington Treaty). The alliance presently has 30 members, with North Macedonia becoming the newest to join in 2020. When NATO was founded i