The ongoing Russian war against Ukraine is a human tragedy on multiple levels. On a devastating personal level, many Ukrainian people have lost their lives, loved ones, homes, jobs, and freedoms because of it. On a geostrategic level, Western leaders by now should have lost many previous assumptions regarding foreign policy and defense strategies related to deterring Russia.
It is obvious that Russia has invalidated the 1997 NATO-Russia Founding Act with its large-scale invasion of Ukraine, and that it has fundamentally changed the security environment in Europe. NATO is now free to respond accordingly and base its forces in Eastern Europe. For its part, the US could consider basing the V Corps headquarters, the 1st Armored Division, and supporting enablers in Poland. NATO allies could consider growing the battalions in the Baltics to three full brigades.