Joe Biden is right to want to strengthen NATO. But Biden would make a serious error by abandoning President Trump’s pressure campaign to see NATO allies spend more on defense.

I note this in light of the media speculation that one of Biden’s first acts will be to cancel planned U.S. military redeployment out of Germany. Announced by Trump back in July, the plan would see thousands of U.S. forces move from Germany to other European NATO member states such as Belgium and Italy. There are problems with this plan (notably its rewarding of Belgium, which spends even less on defense than Germany!). Still, I believe the United States has too many forces in Germany. NATO’s deterrent value against prospective Russian invasion would be better served by the permanent relocation of some U.S. forces in Germany to Poland and the Baltics.