Many pundits have criticized Donald Trump's questioning whether the U.S. should leap to the defense of nations which do not spend on their own defense, as required (and agreed) to do by NATO treaty. This criticism has, however, begun to have the desired effect.
Several European nations are getting more serious about defenses against a Russian incursion into their territories. A RealClealDefense article sketches preparedness moves made by eight frontline countries: Finland, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine.
Prodding people into taking their own defense seriously was (and remains) a good idea. For countries in harm's way, being stronger than Russia isn't what is required, being stronger than one's neighbors will do for starters.
The Finns have stayed independent of neighboring Russia by remaining an indigestible cadre of vicious winter warriors who know their territory and are prepared to die killing Russians. It helps that they don't often prod the Russian bear publicly. Other countries in the region are adopting some version of the Finnish response to Russia, as the RCD article outlines.
