Let’s put aside the fact that some of those people are not qualified to call themselves an expert in the subject.

The ones who are qualified talk like mearsheimer talk about realpolitik. The fact that is you poke a nasty country like Russia they will respond. They are not talking about ideals nor are they talking about what should happen, they simply predict that Russia will do x if the west does y.

That does not mean the west is to blame, far from it. Only Russian propaganda and the far left are actually blaming NATO. They are predicting the brutal response of a nasty regime when they do something which no one else doubts is inherently a good thing. That’s where you cross the line from what the experts say to what the far left alone say.

Expanding NATO and the EU have been very good for the world. Containing the worlds nasty regimes like Russia is a good thing. Ideally they will be penned into their borders, unable to violate their neighbours.

Also don’t confuse China with this, that is a whole different matter. The works is rapidly reaching a stage where no one will be able to stop them doing whatever they like in Asia.