Columnist Stavros Atlamazoglu of The National Interest reports that the United States is seriously considering stepping back from its traditional role in NATO to concentrate on a looming confrontation with China.

According to his information, Pentagon officials have privately informed European partners that after 2027 Washington intends to relinquish its position as the main provider of conventional defense forces for the alliance. The priority, he writes, is shifting toward the Indo-Pacific region, where U.S. troops are expected to prepare for a potential clash with the People’s Republic of China.

American officials, as cited by Atlamazoglu, argue that the Pentagon is unable to wage «war on two fronts». In their view, Washington will be forced to concentrate its resources where it believes the stakes are highest, rather than trying to simultaneously counter China in the Indo-Pacific and Russia in Europe.

The observer notes that, for the first time since NATO was created after World War II, voices in the United States are openly discussing a possible withdrawal from the role of the alliance’s backbone. In his assessment, if Washington follows through on these plans, Europe will face a profound restructuring of its defense architecture. NATO allies, he concludes, will have to assume the central responsibility for developing and producing the weapons on which the alliance’s security depends.