July 10, 2025
How Russia Could Exploit a Vacuum in Europe
This article was originally published on Foreign Affairs.
The NATO summit held two weeks ago in The Hague delivered on the low expectations the allies had set for it. Amid fears that U.S. President Donald Trump would blow up a normal agenda, NATO leaders significantly pared back the program, taking hard discussions on issues such as support for Ukraine, NATO’s relations with Russia, and Russian hybrid attacks in Europe off the table. But the summit did close with a historic agreement by most allies, Spain being a notable exception, to increase members’ defense spending to five percent of GDP over the next ten years, with 3.5 percent earmarked for core military spending and 1.5 percent for hardening civilian infrastructure and overall resilience. The pledge to spend more on defense, in addition to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte’s sycophantic praise of Trump at the summit, smoothed the way for Trump to stick largely to the summit’s highly choreographed script, keeping the alliance’s cohesion intact. Trump even appeared to leave The Hague with a newfound appreciation for NATO members, telling reporters: “These people really love their countries. It’s not a rip-off, and we’re here to help them.”
Any sense of relief among the allies, however, may be short-lived. The relatively positive headlines coming out of the summit obscure the storm brewing across the Atlantic. The Trump administration is undertaking a sweeping force posture review slated for release in late summer or early fall that could fundamentally reshape the U.S. military’s global footprint. If that process results in a significant and swift reduction of U.S. forces in Europe, an outcome that administration officials have publicly suggested is possible, the alliance will become more vulnerable to further Russian aggression.
Putin would assume that with a smaller U.S. presence in Europe, the West would be forced to favor de-escalation, creating an environment the Kremlin would view as exceptionally permissive and paving the way for increasingly brazen acts.
Europe is stepping up in a big way, and defense budgets are rising, but it will take time to ramp up production and deliver the capabilities that the United States currently provides on the continent. The United States may see fit to make some force adjustments in Europe that allow it to bolster its defense posture in Asia to counter rising threats from China. But Washington must carefully plan any such shift, leaving U.S. forces in place long enough that Europeans can work to fill the coming gaps and retain their credible deterrent against Russia. It is critical that any drawdown be closely coordinated with NATO military authorities and that allies agree in advance to cover lost capabilities. Otherwise, Russian President Vladimir Putin will be tempted to take advantage of a weakened alliance.
Read the full article on Foreign Affairs.
More from CNAS
-
U.S. Has to ‘Ratchet Up Pressure’ on Putin to Get ‘Genuine Negotiations’: Kendall-Taylor
Questions are mounting over what exactly "security guarantees" from the U.S. would entail for Ukraine. NBC News Senior White House Correspondent Garrett Haake reports the late...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor
-
Trump: "We'll Be Involved" In Ensuring Security for Ukraine | CNN
Andrea Kendall-Taylor, senior fellow and program director at the Center for a New American Security, weighs in on the situation, stating that there is a quite a bit that still...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor
-
Did Putin Play Trump at the Alaska Summit?
Did the highly anticipated meeting in Alaska alter the trajectory of the war in Ukraine? Or was it just pageantry? As the dust settles on the summit, and as Kyiv, Brussels, an...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor
-
A Lot Still Needs to Happen Before Ukraine-Russia Peace Deal: Intelligence Expert Kendall-Taylor
Fred Kempe, Atlantic Council, and Andrea Kendall-Taylor, senior fellow and program director at the Center for a New American Security, join ‘Closing Bell Overtime’ to talk tod...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor