Commentary  The prevailing narrative blames President Vladimir Putin for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While Putin is undoubtedly responsible for the humanitarian disaster that is unfolding in Ukraine, this narrative fails to consider the role that successive American administrations and NATO may have played in this tragic situation. Although successive U.S. administrations have been trying to turn Ukraine into an American bulwark, the United States would never tolerate Canada or Mexico asking to join a military alliance with Russia and allowing weapons of mass destruction to be installed within its borders. As noted by John J. Mearsheimer, the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago: “The United States does not tolerate distant great powers deploying military forces anywhere in the Western Hemisphere, much less on its borders. Imagine the outrage in Washington if China built an impressive military alliance and tried to include Canada …