There is no magic formula to fix this dilemma, particularly in the midst of ongoing crisis. Any possible fix to bolster the credibility of collective defense at this time could cause a whole new series of problems and undermine cohesion in NATO. If cohesion and consensus in NATO is undermined, that weakens the Baltic states’ position and plays into the hands of Russia. Thus staying the course—with symbolic but not-unimportant tripwire forces rotationally deployed in exercises is, at least in the current environment, likely to define these layers of thinking in contemporary European security. Better to keep allied unity as a patient source of power than to exacerbate divisions within the alliance which would play right into Russia’s hopes to see NATO divided and irrelevant.           

Sean Kay is Robson Professor of Politics and Government at Ohio Wesleyan University and an Associate at the Mershon Center for International Security Studies at the Ohio State University.  His most recent book is America's Search for Security:  The Triumph of Idealism and the Return of Realism (2014).

Image: Wikimedia Commons/Peter Gronemann