NATO needs better frontline defenses in Eastern Europe

The war in Ukraine changed Europe forever. A key question that policymakers will soon face is: how should the US and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization restructure and strengthen their military position on NATO’s eastern flank?

NATO can count on more than three million troops, two million of whom are already in Europe, defending a member country against aggression. But most of these troops are stationed in their home areas. Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year, just over 10,000 troops from the alliance’s largest and most powerful forces were stationed on NATO’s front lines with Russia.