海角大神

As the Pentagon sets its strategic sights on the Asia-Pacific region 鈥� warning of the rise of China and the growing importance of naval power 鈥� some US military commanders are concerned about the fate of America鈥檚 relationships with its traditional allies in Europe.

Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, who heads US Army Europe, recalls a recent visit he made to Ukraine with the US secretary of the Army.

鈥淗e asked me specifically, 鈥楬ey, how鈥檚 the Ukranian Army doing?鈥� General Hertling said at a talk at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies last month. 鈥淚 said, 鈥榃ell, Mr. Secretary, they still have some challenges with corruption, and they still have some problems with training, and their leadership is still a little bit more geared towards the former Soviet states than a new transformative government.鈥櫬� "

鈥淗e said, 鈥楽o why the heck are we training with them?鈥� And I said, 鈥榃ell, because they鈥檇 be whole lot worse if we weren鈥檛.鈥� 鈥�

The point, US military commanders say, is that Europe 鈥� both 鈥渙ld鈥� and 鈥渘ew鈥� 鈥� are vital to US national security. In a world were multilateral action is increasingly important, military cooperation with European powers can pave the way to peace. And relations with former Soviet states have proven useful.

Yet the number of US troops in Europe continues to diminish, from nearly a quarter of a million in 1975 at the height of the Cold War to an expected 30,000 in 2015. 鈥淭hirty thousand soldiers can do a lot of things,鈥� Hertling said. 鈥淚f they鈥檙e positioned to do the right kinds of things.鈥澛�

The problem is that it鈥檚 easy to forget the region is in the midst of a presidential election in which Europe was mentioned only once during the debates 鈥� and that was in the context of the need for the Pentagon to 鈥減ivot鈥� its focus from Europe to the Pacific.聽

When Hertling heard President Obama use that word 鈥減ivot鈥� in discussing European policy, 鈥渋t was disconcerting,鈥� he said at a talk at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies last month.

鈥淚f we're talking about a 鈥榬ebalancing,鈥� getting it right in all areas, I'm OK,鈥� Hertling added. 鈥淚f you're talking about completely taking away from one and giving to another, than I'm concerned about that from a military perspective.鈥�

The Obama administration has generally stopped using the word 鈥減ivot,鈥� since 鈥渋t didn鈥檛 accurately describe what they wanted to do,鈥� says Mark Jacobson, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund, who previously served as NATO鈥檚 senior civilian representative in Afghanistan.

鈥淭he Europeans took the initial pronouncement to mean that the US was going to consider its relationship with European allies secondary to other concerns.鈥澛�

The South China Sea and the growing economies of southeast Asia important, Herling said, but Europe remains strategically vital. 鈥淭he economic ties between the US and Europe are still preeminent.鈥澛�

Even more important, he adds, are 鈥渢he shared cultural values between the Western democracies, which is the first step towards being able to solve complex problems multilaterally,鈥� Jacobson adds. 鈥淪ince the problems in the world today are not such that can be solved by any one nation.鈥澛�

Hertling cites the need for increasing engagement in the 鈥渘ew鈥� Europe. Bases in the middle of Romania, for example, have been key to the Northern Distribution Network, a supply line that is vital for US forces when Pakistan crossings shut down, as they frequently do.聽

Though US relations with Russia remain frosty at times, Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has sought advice from his counterpart, the Russian chief of defense, on Afghanistan that 鈥渨e have found useful,鈥� Hertling added.聽

And Estonia has created a NATO Center of Excellence for Cybersecurity. 鈥淲e call them kiddingly, in US Army Europe, E-stonia,鈥� Hertling joked. 鈥淎nd we have actually sent some of our signaleers and intelligence folks to that center of excellence.鈥�

What鈥檚 more, because of the open borders between European nations, 鈥淵ou could get a potential extremist with a plot starting in Turkey that can move throughout Europe without being checked once and get all the way to Rotterdam [Netherlands] and potentially the United States,鈥� Hertling said.

Yet keeping many bases open in Europe is a tough prospect, he acknowledges, because of budget concerns and because there are no US citizens or congressmen to oppose the closure of European bases. 鈥淲e have no constituency,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 mean, I can鈥檛 go to our congressman and say, 鈥楬ey, you really need to protect this base because it鈥檚 important to us.鈥� 鈥�