The deployment of forces in theatre close to a potential aggressor is a deliberate strategic process designed to ensure that the alliance will get involved poli

The deployment of forces in theatre close to a potential aggressor is a deliberate strategic process designed to ensure that the alliance will get involved politically. That is why units have been sent to the Baltic states recently. The American, Canadian or British public might not go to war for Estonia, but they will if that initial attack on Estonia involves casualties on their forward deployed forces. The thinking is in turn that those troops therefore deter aggression because they act as their nation's guarantee of involvement. A similar principle was seen during the age of gunboat diplomacy, especially with the Pax Britannica.