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Plan to Shift Bases Shakes Up Allies; The project for the largest realignment of U.S. forces since 1945 is fraught with geostrategic implications and has triggered alarms from Russia to South Korea.

Article Excerpt
Byline: Jamie Dettmer, INSIGHT

The Kremlin was quick off the mark. Within hours of Washington acknowledging in late November that it had begun formal negotiations to take over several Polish military bases, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov warned during a trip to Warsaw that any reconfiguration of the U.S. military presence in Europe must consider his country's national-security interests.

According to a Russian official, "The Kremlin is not concealing from the Americans or the Poles its negative attitude toward Polish-American discussions about relocating bases in Germany." But in the weeks to come the Russians won't be the only ones jittery about a long-touted repositioning of U.S. forces and bases. For different reasons allies and foes across the globe are exercised about ambitious Bush administration plans to shift and reshuffle tens of thousands of GIs posted around the world.

The Polish talks are just the start of the biggest U.S. military realignment since the end of World War II. With the war on terrorism in mind, and the need to rethink overseas base locations in the light of the military commitments in Afghanistan and Iraq, Pentagon planners have been working for months on what Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld calls a "readjustment to fit the 21st century."

In November, President George W. Bush himself addressed the issue of a major realignment, saying in a statement: "The once-familiar threats facing...

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