But Europe must never accept a renewal of Russian great power politics, which operates according to the idea that might makes right. Indeed, it is here that Russia’s renewed confrontation with the West begins, because the new Europe is based on the principle of the inviolability of boundaries, peaceful conflict resolution, and the rule of law, so to forgo this principle for the benefit of imperial zones of influence would amount to self-abandonment.
现在很明确，俄罗斯将会重新借助其军事力量来谋求重大利益，尤其是在它的“近邻”地区。但欧洲应该永远不接受俄罗斯大国政治的复活。这种政治的运行，奉行的是“强的就是对的”的理念。事实上，就是在这一点上，俄罗斯开始了新一轮和西方的对峙，因为新欧洲是建立在国境线神圣不可侵犯、以和平方式解决冲突以及法制的理念上的；所以，如果为了帝国的影响圈而放弃这个理念，那就等于自暴自弃。然而，北约继续的东扩的政策只能在俄罗斯强烈的的反对声中展开，而这样做也不会让现实更加安全，因为它会让人许下诺言，而在紧急情况发生时却不遵守诺言，正如目前我们在格鲁吉亚所看到的那样。