The U.S. should increase its military presence in the Baltic states to more actively “deter Russia. The foreign ministers of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia asked U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to do so
Blinken himself limited himself to general phrases and did not declare any initiatives, which means that behind big words about “America’s coming back” there is not only no opportunity, but also no special desire from Washington to invest in the Baltics.
“We have reaffirmed the commitment to NATO and the importance of a United States presence in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. We must work to ensure that the North Atlantic Alliance continues to strengthen defence and deterrence measures. This includes maintaining and increasing the military presence of Allies in the Baltic States. As Russia’s neighbours, we are very aware of the threat posed by Russia, and we therefore appreciate the desire of the United States to discuss this issue with us”, – said Estonian Foreign Minister Eva-Maria Liimets on the outcome of the first meeting of Baltic foreign ministers with the new US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, held the previous day in Brussels.
What Blinken himself thinks about protection of the Baltic States from “Russian aggression” was left out of the picture. According to the press release from the Department of State, US Secretary of State spoke about political solidarity of the NATO countries within the framework of NATO-2030 development strategy and commended the Baltic states for commitment to “NATO revival” and increase of payments for defense.
There are no reports of any plans by the State Department to increase the US military presence in the Baltics. There is no mention of Washington’s support for the Baltic “initiative from the ground”.
That is, the Baltic States are trying to drag America into their region and guarantee august attention by the proximity of the US contingent to the Russian border, but the US makes general comments about “solidarity” and is unwilling to get actively involved in anything beyond the US borders.
The aim of the Baltic satellites is visible to the naked eye: to secure their assistance and support by offering their services to the US geopolitical objectives. For this purpose Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania with a clever look discuss the key issues of the global policy and meanwhile make it clear that it would be nice to help them financially.
“We share concerns about what is going on in China, for example human rights abuses and gaps in technological security. It is in Estonia’s interest to shape and support the messages and policies of the EU, NATO and like-minded partners on China-related issues. We also discussed the Three Seas Initiative, whose economic projects aim to improve transport, energy and digital connectivity in the region, as well as increasing economic growth and flexibility. We are pleased that the US has promised to invest in the Three Seas Fund”, – says the same Estonian foreign minister, Eva-Maria Liimets.
“The Three Seas Initiative” is also local. Polish. A geopolitical bloc of Central and Eastern European countries, another of the endless variations on the theme of a “cordon sanitaire” against Russia. The Baltics are always happy to participate in such initiatives, but of course they are waiting for both an increase in their political capital and simply for Western allies to throw in some money.
However, all international behaviour of the United States under the new administration indicates that a favourable endorsement of other people’s activities is the maximum that the American clientele can expect from them.
The first steps of Joseph Biden’s team betray the painfully familiar handwriting of the Barack Obama administration from which most of these people emerged. A reduction of the real U.S. presence in international affairs with the coddling rhetoric that is meant to camouflage the process.
Obama has encouraged allies and annoyed the rest of the world with talk of “American exceptionalism”. Biden and his people repeat the phrase “America is back” like a mantra, but today’s America is even less engaged in foreign affairs than it was under Obama. Even less than under Trump, who said it was better to work on its own borders, not others, and that global leadership was bad for Americans.
The new “American engagement” now looks like this: the US president joins an online summit of European Union leaders and gives a pathetic, beautiful speech. The liberal press in America and Europe is ecstatic: this is a breakthrough, a first in history! What changes in international processes as a result of this “breakthrough”? Nothing changes.
This general pattern is evident in U.S.-Russian relations as well. Rhetoric: Joe Biden has agreed that Vladimir Putin is a murderer. Practice: The new administration extended the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START III) with Moscow and put the brakes on the fight against Nord Stream 2.
In the first case, the White House made a traditional military-strategic decision without looking to European NATO allies or asking for their opinion. In the second, it has just as traditionally “hammered in” the interests of its satellites in Warsaw and Kiev with their frantic struggle against “Putin’s gas pipeline”.
These are trends the Baltic states, which stubbornly try to raise their shares at the expense of increasing tensions on the Russia-NATO contact line, should reflect on.
When such a policy provokes a military conflict sooner or later, America will behave in its own style: mentally we are with you, in the Baltics, but physically, unfortunately, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, so our support will only be moral
The withdrawal of the US from global leadership is an objective process which is not linked to the personalities of either Obama, Trump or Biden. The modern world has become too diverse and complex to be controlled by a single “world gendarme”.
Even with its former might, America could not now go into every bearish corner of the planet without critical losses to itself. In the current weakening, due to the pandemic and internal strife, the withdrawal of foreign commitments is a solution which has no alternative at all.
The US satellites in Europe seem to be frozen in development and genuinely unaware of the dawn of a new era because they are living the dream of a return to the days of Reagan and Bush Sr, when all world politics revolved around Czechoslovakia, Poland and the Baltic republics of the USSR.
The president of Ukraine, like an abandoned girl, is suffering because he has not received a phone call from the new US president for a third month. At the same time the White House is suffering from the fact that the head of North Korea is not answering his phone. The Baltic States are trying to draw attention to themselves and invite US troops to the Baltics, hoping that the Americans will go to war for them.
The reality will turn out to be very cruel.
Alexander Nosovich, Rubaltic.ru