The Clinton Administration's Role in NATO Expansion Li Haidong (54) NATOs eastward expansion, planned and started by the Clinton administration, w a s an important development influencing European security. Starting from literatu re analysis, the article explores the reasons why the Clinton administration pus hed forward the expansion of NATO, how the final decision was made and what is t he influence of the evolving expansion itself. The NATO expansion is a political decision. An expanded NATO gives full play to political functions, aimed at mer ging East European nations into NATO and bringing about their transformation int o the Western political and economic system. Although the expansion may weaken N ATOs military functions, they will exist for a rather long time with the purpo s e to guard against or contain Russia if it fails to integrate itself into the we st and restores its traditional expansionism. The Russian transformation and NAT Os adjustment influence each other. How they react to each other will shape th e future configuration of NATO.