NATO reinvents itself as the Russian bear awakens

Earlier this month, NATO’S Supreme Allied Commander, Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, stressed that a “new paradigm” in Europe has been created by Russia’s actions during the Ukraine conflict. He did not rule out that NATO could permanently position troops on its eastern borders.

Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine in its online edition this week cited internal NATO documents, in which the military alliance was deliberating potential scenarios that include a Russian military campaign in Eastern Europe.

Experts say that the alliance would presently face a major challenge, if forced to defend its Eastern allies, especially the Baltic states, under Article 5 of the NATO treaty. It states that an attack on one member would be viewed as an attack on all.

“Especially in Latvia, Russia would initially have a better strategic position,” said German retired Gen. Harald Kujat, who served as chief of staff of the German armed forces and as chairman of the NATO Military Committee from 2002 to 2005. “The problem for NATO would be to bring an adequate number of forces in a timely fashion to the region. This would take months.”