" but we would really like our land to be free of foreign troops. "
You are probably not in the majority there.
Do you want the Russians grabbing larger of E. Europe and seeing how far they can go with it?
At the end of the cold war it seemed as though maybe NATO might be past it's usefulness, but after a resurgent Russia, it seems more like it's going to take another 70-100 years probably.
Also, the 'rest of the world' is a more chaotic place, and it bodes well for Europeans to be playing well with American forces.
North Africa is a hot-spot and Europe (except UK/France in very limited form) doesn't have the ability to project power, even in the Libya intervention, it was backed by US AWACS, drones, and organization. It was kind of a folly, but there's no doubt that those interventions could be much more necessary in the future.
Politicians know this and there's no real popular urgency for the Americans to leave.
Both Norway and Sweden, the later a non-NATO country, are going more coordination with the Americans, not less.
Great work in the Libya guys - 10 years later country is still at war, 10s of thousands dead (and counting), people are worse in every possible way than during Gadaffi rule... Can't wait to see more similar interventions in the future.
You are probably not in the majority there.
Do you want the Russians grabbing larger of E. Europe and seeing how far they can go with it?
At the end of the cold war it seemed as though maybe NATO might be past it's usefulness, but after a resurgent Russia, it seems more like it's going to take another 70-100 years probably.
Also, the 'rest of the world' is a more chaotic place, and it bodes well for Europeans to be playing well with American forces.
North Africa is a hot-spot and Europe (except UK/France in very limited form) doesn't have the ability to project power, even in the Libya intervention, it was backed by US AWACS, drones, and organization. It was kind of a folly, but there's no doubt that those interventions could be much more necessary in the future.
Politicians know this and there's no real popular urgency for the Americans to leave.
Both Norway and Sweden, the later a non-NATO country, are going more coordination with the Americans, not less.
Such will be the situation for a few decades.