BY:  Peter Isackson

Why Does Washington Cast All its Villains in Moscow?

The Guardian highlighted forgotten instances of Russians seeking NATO membership, erased from the West's memory.

Putin highlighted an earlier precedent when the West dismissed the Soviet Union's request to join NATO in 1954.

Putin suggested Russian NATO membership, but was rejected by US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, raising diplomatic questions. 

Diplomacy involves discussing everything, even contradictory positions, to resolve conflicts without resorting to war.

US post-World War II diplomacy prioritized principles over interests, seeking efficient governance of the post-colonial world.

The Washington Consensus established rules for economic order and promoted liberal economic ideology for prosperity.

The Washington Consensus, an innovative form of empire, encountered costly challenges and threatened the stability of the dollar.

Imposing a simplistic ideology on a complex environment creates incoherence, as seen in the Soviet Union's NATO request.