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Topic: Land Warfare Blog Brand: The Buzz Region: Europe Tags: China, NATO, Russia, Two-Front War, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and United States America’s Long-Sought Indo-Pacific Pivot Could Upend NATO December 8, 2025 By: Stavros Atlamazoglou
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The United States is prioritizing the Indo-Pacific and a potential clash with China, instead of Europe and the Russian threat.
The United States is considering pulling back from NATO to focus more on the threat of China.
America Doesn’t Want a Two-Front War
According to reports, senior US defense officials have privately informed European allies that the United States will step back from its unofficial role as NATO’s primary conventional defense provider beyond 2027.
European senior defense officials received a warning from their Pentagon counterparts that the United States is prioritizing the Indo-Pacific area of operations and a potential clash with China there, instead of operations in Europe and the Russian threat.
The US officials reportedly said that the US military “cannot fight two wars at once” and will need to concentrate its forces where the stakes are higher.
The United States does not want to be involved in a two-front war in the event of a conflict with China in the Indo-Pacific, while hostilities with Russia take place in Europe.
Over the past year or so, US and European foreign policies on Ukraine have begun to diverge. At various points over the last months, the White House has halted and resumed military aid to Kyiv. At the same time, the Europeans have steadily increased their military support of Ukraine.
Will Europe Take the Lead in NATO?
Now the main question is whether a European-led NATO could stand against Russia. After all, the transatlantic alliance was built to deter and, if need be, fight the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact. Today, the Soviet Union and its satellite states might be gone, but Russia presents a renewed threat to peace and security in Europe, especially after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
This is the first time since NATO’s inception after World War II that the United States is considering taking a step back from being the transatlantic alliance’s main conventional force. Moreover, if the plan actually goes through, it will require a structural shift on the part of NATO’s European member states. Other countries will need to step up and provide the bulk of NATO’s conventional military force. With the UK’s weakened ground forces—the UK has historically been averse to a large standing army—the only immediate option is France. Under Emmanuel Macron’s presidency, France has invested heavily in its military force and has the most powerful military in Europe. Germany could be another option down the line, as Berlin is surpassing its concerns over its military past and is going through a rearmament phase.
However, even after the statements by US defense officials, it would be hard to imagine a world in which the United States would not come to the aid of some of its closest and oldest allies, including the United Kingdom—with which the United States shares “a special relationship”—France, and Germany. Indeed, the reports indicate a US willingness to step back from being the primary conventional defense provider of NATO. The wording suggests that the US military will still contribute forces and capabilities, but might not be the main force in a potential conflict. Moreover, the wording suggests that the US military will still provide nuclear deterrence capabilities to the alliance.
About the Author: Stavros Atlamazoglou
Stavros Atlamazoglou is a seasoned defense journalist specializing in special operations and a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ). He holds a BA from the Johns Hopkins University and an MA from the Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). His work has been featured in Business Insider, Sandboxx, and SOFREP.
Image: Shutterstock.com / Aerial-motion
The post America’s Long-Sought Indo-Pacific Pivot Could Upend NATO appeared first on The National Interest.
Источник: nationalinterest.org