Europe Can Defend Itself The United States does not need to maintain a robust forward presence in the European theater to deter Russia or protect NATO allies. Matthew Mai Aug 16, 2022 1:00 PM For American proponents of European strategic autonomy, any hope that U.S. policymakers would draw long-overdue conclusions, and promote and encourage the development of independent and self-sufficient European defense capabilities, seems to have been quashed for now. Paradoxically, the Russo-Ukrainian War, which has revealed the severe limits of Russian conventional military power, has prompted U.S. officials to justify significant new forward deployments to Europe and raise the...