However, a rotation may be hard to achieve in practice. Not all frontline countries are practically able to host an extra 5,000 troops, said Jennifer Kavanagh, director of military analysis at the Defense Priorities think tank.
Poland and Romania have the necessary spare capacity to host more soldiers, with minor infrastructure upgrades, but “in the Baltics, space is more constrained and some additional planning and construction would likely be needed,” she said.
Shifting the soldiers may also butt up against political realities inside the U.S. government, Kavanagh added, which has repeatedly pressed Europe to shoulder more responsibility for its own security. “Moving forces eastward is inconsistent with the Trump administration’s vision … and expectation that Europe take control of its conventional defense,” she said.
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