The problem is one of the old Soviet dogma. The Russian people have been continually sold the line that "the United States is seeking to conquer us." Pretty typical of the propagandist BS that you tend to hear in totalitarian societies like the USSR was.
So if you spent all you life being told to fear and hate the United States and its allies, how easy is it to pull a 180 degree turn and suddenly trust them implicitly? Damn near impossible, I'd say.
Having former Soviet States making ties to the West is a bitter pill for the Russians to swallow, but ultimately it should fall under that "none of your business" category for Russia. Russia is used to all of those new nations being under their thumb. Hell, it was former KGB opperatives who tried to assassinate the Ukrainian candidate who wanted to expand Ukrainian relations with the West.
The ruckus that you suggest, Bulldog, already happened with Cuba and Niceragua. The USSR did their level best to gain allies as close to the USA as possible. They setup bases where they could. It made us plenty nervous. And, for instance, if Canada decided tomorrow to invite Russia and China to setup military bases within their borders, that's Canada's perogative.
The difference is that the USA and Russia are not mutually hostile at this point, or at least we should not be. But what's stopping the Russians from deciding to reconquer all of the former Soviet States? What keeps Russian leaders from forcibly returning everything to "the good old days" of Communism and the USSR? If you're Latvia, for instance, you know you don't stand a chance of repelling a Russian invasion. So the move toward NATO by formerly Communist nations is only logical. Few other nations are going to understand that fear because they were not controlled by the Iron grip of the USSR throughout the Cold War Era. If the USA and other NATO members set up bases within the borders of new members of NATO, is this wrong? Well of that independent nation has the right to allow it. They'd also welcome it for the reasons I've already stated.
Uzbekistan is a perfect example: It was their right to invite/accept us and it was their right to tell us to leave.
I do wish that people would leave off all this "the United States is out to conquer the world" crap. Its gets very old and its insulting to Americans simply because it's 100% contrary to what America is really all about.
