nobody has envisioned the stupidity of current russian leadership

In 1997, George F. Kennan (the architect of Cold War containment) deplored enlargement as “the most fateful error of American policy in the entire post-Cold War era,” warning it would inflame Russian nationalism, empower hardliners, and inevitably precipitate conflict along Russia’s borders

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_opposition_to_NATO_enlargement