HUFFPOST: Robert Gates calls it “aging out.” He’s not referring to his imminent retirement as defense secretary. He’s talking about a generational expiration date on the American embrace of Europe as a pillar of U.S. defense strategy.
…Sean Kay, a professor of politics and government at Ohio Wesleyan University and a specialist in European and international security, said in a telephone interview that the U.S. might get Europe to do more for its own defense if it began withdrawing troops and considered moving U.S. European Command headquarters to U.S. soil.
“A key premise of NATO’s founding was that Europe needed the confidence to get on its feet” after the devastation of World War II – “not that it should be a permanent appendage to American military power,” Kay said … (more)
