High-ranking defense officials from the United States have issued a groundbreaking alert to NATO partners, indicating that America’s conventional defense obligations to Europe must now be deprioritized. Instead, Europe is urged to assume primary responsibility for its own conventional military deterrence. Under Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby has affirmed that while the US will continue to provide a nuclear extended deterrent, there is an expectation for Europe to significantly enhance its conventional military capabilities. Analysts caution that this monumental shift in US NATO policy puts nine American states with NATO force-projection responsibilities at risk in a new strategic environment where conventional deterrence in Europe may no longer receive assurance from the United States.
