The Pentagon opened a formal review of American troop deployments across Europe on Monday, a move that could reshape the alliance's defence posture for years to come.
The process, which could take as long as six months, was foreshadowed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during a June gathering of NATO defence ministers in Brussels. Deputy Defense Secretary Elbridge Colby said the objective is to ensure the alliance moves swiftly toward European nations assuming primary responsibility for their own conventional defence. Washington has already told allies it intends to scale back military resources made available for NATO operations.
The review will align European force posture with Washington's 2025 National Security Strategy and 2026 National Defense Strategy, according to the Pentagon.