My view is deterrence. Deterrence is widely underrated.
Merkel (who grew up in East Germany and speaks Russian) tried the hardest to integrate and bring Russians closer to Europe and nurture western liberal values, like a free press, freedom of expression, free elections, etc and even helped bring Russia into the G7 to become the G8... Putin subverted these structures and was subsequently kicked out.
I would love to live in a world free from war, but that is not reality - the truth is the entire world has never been at peace. Different parts of the world have been waging war with each other since tribes were a thing. Deterrence keeps the peace for the most part. The only caveat I'd make with NATO is Serbia is right to feel that NATO is not a defensive body, even though the genocide was happening, it wasn't in NATO's remit. Which is why both Nato and the UN security council have lost any moral high ground, when they both deviate from the stated objectives of their existence... In my opinion, it is the lesser of two evils.
