Follow us on social

Nato-lithuania

Lithuania wants to be the new Eastern outpost for US empire

Like their ancient Roman counterparts, U.S. legions supplement regional security, and so the footprint grows.

Analysis | Europe

Think the number of U.S. bases around the world are naturally decreasing during so-called peace time? Think again.

An article in Defense One today illustrates “mission creep” in its purest form a laField of Dreams: Lithuania builds a military base in hopes Americans will come.

And no doubt they will — they are already there, albeit temporarily. According to the reporting by Jacqueline Feldscher, "hundreds" of U.S. service members are already at the new €7 million facility called Camp Herkus. She describes it thusly:

(Camp Herkus) includes a gym stocked with state-of-the art treadmills and weight racks, rubber-turf basketball courts surrounded by container housing stuffed with bunk beds and gear, a PX selling cigarettes and candy, and a game hall where soldiers were playing first-person-shooter video games.

Unlike their Western European counterparts who are talking more these days about “strategic autonomy,” Eastern partners (Lithuania entered NATO in 2004) are all about putting more American boots on the ground as a hedge against Russia. According to Feldscher, Belarus is less than 10 miles away and the Lithuanians hope regular military exercises with the Americans and NATO will deter the Russians, who are doing the same with their Belarusian allies. Poland is also looking for a permanent U.S. base (Fort Trump obviously isn’t happening) but it did get 1,000 American troops sent there late last year.

"We hope that this new infrastructure in Pabrade will become the second home for the U.S. force,” Lithuania’s Minister of National Defense Arvydas Anušauskas said the day it opened. 

“The need for the deployment of US forces in [Lithuania] is more apparent than ever & we are providing all the necessary conditions for U.S. troops to maintain their readiness,” Anušauskas floated on Twitter two weeks later, welcoming Gen. Christopher Cavoli, commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa.

For its part, the Biden administration hasn’t said whether there will be any permanent arrangement with Lithuania, and it is still reviewing the Polish base plans. But in the meantime, with these states offering so much for even temporary stationing, the U.S. military most resembles its Roman counterparts of two millennia ago: welcome in their Eastern client states and on Rome's terms, all for the protection of the realm. Official Washington continues to encourage this, most recently including the “Sustaining Deterrence in Europe” initiative in the massive National Defense Authorization Act, which would position more U.S. and NATO troops in Russia’s backyard. 

For an interesting overview of the 750 bases the United States has across the globe, it is worth reading the latest David Vine brief with Patterson Deppen and Leah Bolger here. Despite all of the talk about looking inward and using diplomacy rather than the military to engage the world, not much has changed, particularly in Eastern Europe.


Analysis | Europe
Stars are aligned for Trump's troop withdrawal from Syria
Top photo credit: U.S. military forces walk toward their next coordination along the demarcation line outside Manbij, Syria, July 18, 2018. The U.S. and Turkish militaries conducted these patrols to help reinforce the safety and stability in Manbij. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Timothy R. Koster)

Stars are aligned for Trump's troop withdrawal from Syria

Middle East

The blitzkrieg offensive which ousted Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in December 2024 has sparked an explosive political and military reaction across the country.

Al-Qaeda offshoot Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) seized Damascus, Israel extended its occupation in southern Syria, and Turkey launched fresh military operations targeting the secular, multi-ethnic, Kurdish-led federation in North and East Syria (NES), where the U.S. has long maintained a military presence with boots on the ground, justified by its anti-ISIS mission.

keep readingShow less
Donald Trump
Top image credit: President Donald Trump speaks to the media following the White House Easter Egg Roll in Washington, D.C., on April 21, 2025. President Trump speaks about Secretary of Defense Hegseth, the Pope's death, and the situation in Ukraine and Iran. (Photo by Andrew Leyden/NurPhoto) VIA REUTERS

Ukraine and Europe can't afford to refuse Trump's peace plan

Europe

Most of the peace plan for Ukraine now sketched out by the Trump administration is not new, is based on common sense, and has indeed already been tacitly accepted by Kyiv.

Ukrainian officials have acknowledged that its army has no chance in the foreseeable future of reconquering the territories now occupied by Russia. Vice President J.D. Vance’s statement that the U.S. plan would “freeze the territorial lines…close to where they are today” simply acknowledges an obvious fact.

keep readingShow less
Michael O'Hanlon, Jack Keane, Michele Flournoy
Top photo credit: Michael O’Hanlon (DoD Photo by U.S. Army Sgt. James K. McCann), Ret. General Jack Keane (White House photo) and Michele Flournoy (CNAS/Flickr)

Could a Blobby enclave be sowing chaos at DoD?

Military Industrial Complex

UPDATE 4/24, 5:15 PM: The Defense Policy Board website has been scrubbed, as reported by The Intercept. The list of DPB members can still be viewed on an archived version of the website.


Discussing alleged Pentagon leaks with Tucker Carlson on Monday, recently ousted DoD official and Iraq war veteran Dan Caldwell charged that there are a number of career staff in the Pentagon who oppose the current administration’s policies. He then took particular aim at the the Defense Policy Board as a potential source of ongoing leaks to the press.

keep readingShow less

LATEST

QIOSK

Newsletter

Subscribe now to our weekly round-up and don't miss a beat with your favorite RS contributors and reporters, as well as staff analysis, opinion, and news promoting a positive, non-partisan vision of U.S. foreign policy.