In 1998, the @nytimes revealed that NATO expansion wasn’t just about ‘security’—it was a jackpot for US arms makers like Lockheed Martin, who spent millions lobbying Congress to push it through. 

Expansion meant billions in jet and weapons sales to new members, subsidized by U.S. taxpayers. Poland wanted 150 F-16s at $20M each. 

A senator even joked that landlocked Hungary might get a navy! 

NATO’s eastward push wasn’t just geopolitics—it was big business.