[…] Military mobility—the ability to move massive amounts of troops and military equipment across territory and national borders rapidly—has warranted increasing attention from NATO policymakers over the last few years, but significant legal, diplomatic, and logistical challenges still need to be overcome—not to mention the sudden impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. “We have made some real progress,” explained US Army Europe Commander General Christopher Cavoli, who joined Scaparrotti on an Atlantic Council virtual event on April 23, “but there is a bit of work left to be done.”
The need for greater military mobility has been triggered by shifts in NATO policy over the past three decades, Scaparrotti explained. While NATO concentrated large permanent forces along the border with the Soviet satellite countries during the Cold War, this posture was replaced by an emphasis on smaller expeditionary actions in the Balkans and the Middle East in the 1990s and 2000s. Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and invasion of Eastern Ukraine in 2014, however, has forced NATO to reposition assets on its eastern flank, this time with smaller forward positions, backed up by larger rapid reaction forces. […]
The remaining challenges affecting military mobility are the focus of a new Atlantic Council report, produced by the Council’s taskforce on military mobility co-chaired by Scaparrotti and Bell. While there has been considerable momentum and some progress on enhancing the Alliance’s mobility in recent years, Bell explained that “these efforts continue to face hurdles that without continued political momentum are unlikely to be overcome,” including fading political attention, significant investment needs, cyber and network resilience requirements, and the ability to protect critical infrastructure from attack. Läs artikel