US, NATO focus east, but for how long? - Europe - Stripes: U.S. plans to station tanks and other heavy weaponry in eastern Europe would be a clear show of increased U.S. and NATO presence in a region hungry for a tangible NATO footprint. But as the alliance looks to intensify its efforts in the east, it faces the dual challenge of averting a Cold War-style standoff with Russia and sustaining an operational tempo unmatched in recent years.
For NATO, the challenge ahead will be one of endurance as it works to transform itself in the aftermath of Russia’s intervention in Ukraine last year. There are already some indications of fatigue as the alliance presses ahead with a mission that is testing budgets, political will and alliance nerve.
“All of this is very expensive and it is running up hard against the limits of member states,” said Jan Techau, director of Carnegie Europe in Brussels, the European arm of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “It’s a question of staying power and how much political capital can be spent on this. This now is the big, big task.”
