Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, former US Army Europe Commander, told us that establishment of US bases in Europe could potentially disrupt the NATO cohesion. Hodges claims that cohesion is the greatest of the alliance’s strengths, and it acts as the best deterrent.
The best deterrence is a very cohesive alliance, 29 nations, publicly and actually committed to each other, to the collective defense. When you add up all the capability of the 29 nations of the alliance: economy, population, resources and military capability; It dwarfs whatever Russia could have, which is why Russia would never want to take on the alliance.