1. NATO should be reconfigured to shift the primary responsibility for defending Europe to Europeans. This far-reaching change is appropriate given Europe’s transformed security environment.
2. Reducing or ending the American military presence in Europe should not depend on whether European governments implement burden shifting; indeed U.S. force reductions are a prerequisite for burden shifting.
3. Europe has the economic and technological resources needed to assume the principal responsibility for its own defense.
4. Burden shifting is not merely about increased European defense spending; it also requires better military coordination among European states.
5. Russia’s attack on Ukraine has revealed the weaknesses of the Russian military, which makes burden shifting even more appropriate.
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DEFP_Reconfiguring_NATO_The_case_for_burden_shifting.pdf
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