The North Atlantic Treaty Organization took another step forward in its post-Cold War evolution last week when it officially inducted seven new members. While there were celebrations in NATO capitals, political leaders in Moscow voiced concern about a move that brings the organization to Russia's borders. NATO is adapting to a post-Cold War world, but its leaders must acknowledge the remnants of the old order that influence thinking in the East and the West. While Moscow cannot have a veto over NATO's future, there will be no real stability if Russian concerns are ignored.

NATO was established by 12 nations in 1949 to counter the Soviet threat to Western Europe. The organization was the foundation of European security throughout the Cold War. It maintained a sometimes uneasy peace, but it managed to prevent war despite several crises. Since its creation, NATO has expanded six times, most significantly in 1990, when a reunified Germany settled under the defense umbrella, and in 1999 when the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, former Warsaw Pact nations, joined. The accession of seven new governments -- Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Romania -- last week brought the membership to 26. All, save Slovenia, were former Warsaw Pact members.

Although many Russians -- and some in the West -- had hoped that NATO might go the way of the Warsaw Pact, the organization has proven quite resilient in adopting to new security challenges. Unfortunately, there are some in Russia who fear that NATO planners still have old enemies in mind and fear that the expanded organization is designed to isolate and contain its former adversary. They point to NATO's expansion to Russia's borders as proof.