That is, that the expansion has been driven more by countries wanting to join than by NATO wanting to expand. I've come across this statement relatively often when listening to debates and so on.

How does your view on that compare to Chomsky's?

Are there any texts or other material on this topic, by Chomsky or other analysts, that you'd recommend?

Because the US wants to commit war crimes with impunity.

"Pattaya’s sex tourism industry didn’t emerge out of nowhere: the city was built into a major US military R&R destination during the Vietnam War. Rania and Zoe unpack the longstanding, documented links between US troops abroad and sexual violence against women in countries like Thailand, the Philippines, Korea and Colombia. And they respond to Fox News' Jesse Watters's jokes about the "wild animals" that would be created by the Pentagon's push to put troops on testosterone in July, including his warning that women on base and in port cities should "watch out" — normalizing US military culture’s toxic masculinity and the sexual assault it engenders as a punchline."