The United States Congress ratified the new National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) earlier this year. It changes the US approach to military as it foresees a permanent presence of the US Army in Poland. The question of “What can we do for your security without angering the lord of the Kremlin?” has turned to the direct opposite.
The NDAA also includes issues such as: “how many military units would have to be distributed in Poland to successfully dissuade Russia and how to improve in that regard the so called eventuality plans?” And “the feasibility and purposefulness of installing a permanent American armored presence?”
This bill is an expression of a new political line in the USA, which sees the military strengthening of Poland as a gain and not a cost in the American global strategy
President Donald Trump’s administration is expected to deliver a full report in answer to those questions by March 1st, 2019.
“Paris Act Syndrome”
Poland’s security has been an issue because of the “Paris Act Syndrome”. When president Bill Clinton signed the Paris Agreement in 1997 he declared to not install a permanent American presence in Eastern Europe. This was meant to better relations with Russian president Boris Yeltsin.
The “Paris Act Syndrome” is the West’s mindset of not treating Eastern and Central Europe as a global security issue. Historically, its protection has fluidly fallen under either Western or Eastern defense. The West’s need to tame Russia and use its resources remains more important than Central-Eastern European protection. It is a peripheral issue which politicians cannot put above the Russian one.
With the new NDAA named after senator John McCain, America shifts from the Paris Agreement.
This bill is an expression of a new line of political thought ruling in the USA, which sees the military strengthening of Poland as a gain and not a cost in the American global strategy.
The US defense budget has seen a 13 percent increase compared to last year. This makes the budget almost thrice the size of China and Russia’s. American lawmakers, along with the president have decided to end the US’s long era of military decay and have opened a new arms race period.
