Why Even Small States Still Need Conventional Military Forces - Modern War Institute

"The place where deterrence matters most is between the ears of a potential attacker. How to measure the effect of what we do in that particular part of the battlespace is extremely difficult, if not impossible. But it is hard to conceive of a situation in which a potential attacker would be less deterred by a conventional defender—however small—backed by the threat of an alliance coming to its aid and potentially by an organized resistance, than by that resistance and that alliance threat alone."