Consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for the United States’ Position in Europe

The applications of two new countries to NATO at the three-month mark of the Russo-Ukrainian War invites greater analysis of the geopolitical landscape in Europe as well as the United States’ place in this new setting. European members of both NATO and the EU took action against Russia that only days earlier had seemed unconceivable. Even Germany’s traffic light coalition led by the party of Willy Brandt’s Ostpolitik, the Social Democrat Party (SPD), plans to rearm and to decouple from Russian gas. Globally, America’s most important allies are joining it to impose sanctions against Russia. At the same time, so far, the conflict is bringing Russia and China closer together, which in turn puts pressure on the system of alliances set in place to deter would-be aggressors. The Joe Biden administration in the United States is reacting to these momentous challenges with historic responses, most prominently by leading an international coalition to support Ukraine.