| Summary/Abstract |
American forward presence in Europe has been no easy sell in recent years. With Washington’s intention to ‘rebalance’ towards Asia challenged by a constrained defence-budgetary environment, the idea of scaling back in Europe had begun, until the crisis in Ukraine, to make some headway. In 2012, the Pentagon’s strategic guidance warned that US force posture in Europe would have to ‘adapt to the evolving strategic landscape’ and develop ‘innovative, low-cost, and small-footprint approaches’. In turn, some Europeans have construed the US pivot to Asia as an opportunity to take security matters into their own hands.
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