Jorge Benitez
Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine changed the balance of power in Europe. It is time for the leaders of NATO to understand this new security environment and realize that NATO membership for Ukraine can provide a long-term solution to Russia’s desire and capabilities for aggression.
The geography of NATO has changed significantly since the end of the Cold War. After several new democracies in Central Europe became members, NATO membership has moved significantly to the east. NATO’s new members are now the most vulnerable to attack from Russia because they are smaller (both in terms of population and geography) and farther away from reinforcements from the rest of their allies.
For example, Estonia has a population of 1.3 million, Latvia has 1.9 million, and Lithuania has 2.7 million (5.9 million total). Their combined armed forces are about 47,950 active-duty personnel. In other words, these NATO members close to Russia have a combined population smaller than New York City’s (8.3 million people) and a combined military force size only marginally larger than that of the New York City Police Department (36,000 officers). Prior to the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, these NATO members were facing 200,000 troops in Russia’s Western Military District, which periodically practiced invading NATO in the ZAPAD exercises.
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