James Stavridis

President Donald Trump has halted the US Navy’s nascent effort to guide commercial ships out of the Persian Gulf — pending the Iranians’ response to his latest peace proposal. But don’t let the pause fool you.

The 14-month US mission in the 80s was massive and dangerous. A passenger airliner was accidentally shot down.

With the world’s attention focused on wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, a major geopolitical development in Europe has gone largely unnoticed: President Donald Trump’s decision to pull 5,000 troops out of Germany after it refused to support US and Israeli attacks on Iran. While the move represents less than 10% of the roughly 80,000 to 90,000 US military personnel stationed in Europe, it amounts to a shot across the continent’s bow.

The withdrawal of U.S. forces from Germany sparks strategic questions for Europe and Asia.

Japan is in the fourth year of an aggressive five-year plan to create an elite military. It is raising defense spending from 1% to 2% of GDP, and within a few years it could potentially have the world’s third-largest military budget, behind only the US and China.

Given the immense threat of cyberattacks to national security, it may surprise Americans that the US military has no dedicated force overseeing all operations to defend the nation, troops abroad and major corporations from cyberattacks. That may change soon.

According to well-sourced reports, the US is reducing the level of combat forces available for North Atlantic Treaty Organization operations in Europe.

The US Will Be Weaker by Pulling Planes From Europe - James Stavridis

America’s current cyber defenses are a patchwork of governmental and private-sector efforts.

The Pentagon last week announced that it will change the name of its Indo-Pacific Command — a military empire covering almost all of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the 36 countries of the region, and half the world’s population — reverting to its historical appellation of simply Pacific Command.