An American Ally in Putin's Line of Fire

WSJ: (link @ NRO) ^ | 4/4/2014 | Matthew Kaminski

[Servant of the Cross]

Tallinn, Estonia

From the pinkish presidential palace here, the Russia border lies 130 miles due east across a flat coastal Baltic plain. Toomas Hendrik Ilves took up residence in 2006, two years after his small Baltic state joined the European Union and NATO. At the time, most people assumed that any Russian threat had been buried with Peter the Great, who first brought Estonia into Russia's empire.

Not so fast. "Everything has changed," President Ilves says almost as soon as we sit down for a Thursday afternoon coffee.

"The post-Cold War order. Peace, love, Woodstock. Everyone gets along—sure we have minor problems here and there, human rights not always so good, but there are no more border changes." After last month, he says, "that's out." Russia annexed Crimea, massed forces on Ukraine's eastern borders, and prodded "Russian speakers" to rise against the government in Kiev. Moscow also pointedly complained about the treatment of Slavic kinsmen in the Baltic states, the same charge used to justify the invasion of Ukraine.

"An aggressive, revanchist power," in the Estonian leader's words, makes the unthinkable thinkable. "We were already caught off guard with Crimea," he says. "Once you lose the predictability factor, you can't be 99% sure they won't do something." The most dramatic something would be a Russian military incursion into NATO's front-line states.

Perched alone up in eastern Baltic are Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Their fear of Moscow propelled them to become the first and only former Soviet republics to seek the refuge of NATO. But now doubts are appearing. The West has responded tepidly to the Crimean aggression. Military budgets are at historic lows as a share of NATO economies. The alliance, which marked its 65th anniversary on Friday, has never faced the test ...

[Servant of the Cross]

Raised in America, Estonia's President Toomas Ilves provides some very sobering comments from a NATO ally.

Anyone who calls out Krugman as "smug, overbearing & patronizing" is alright in my book.

[Parmenio]

I went to college with Toomas Ilves and spoke with him on several occasions. He is a fine man.

[Raymann]

They spend two percent of their GDP on defense, they should work more on defending themselves first.

[Servant of the Cross]

So, you suggest scrapping NATO?

[Forward the Light Brigade]

NATO has outlived its usefulness—It needs to be replaced. Europe grew rich because they didn’t need to spend money on military—let the USA foot the bill. Well, No more! They can defend themselves or become part of Russia’s New Empire.