Border Hordes

 with the breakdown of the medieval system,
the gods of chaos, lunacy, and bad taste gained ascendancy 
--A Confederacy of Dunces,
 John Kennedy Toole
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A small thought:

Ranger is reading a book on the previous Dark Ages and specifically the Holy Roman Empire (HRE), a confederacy formed to defend members from the hordes like the Huns and East Goths on their borderlands. It disbanded when alliances shifted and with them, their enemies.

Fast-forward to the 20th century and NATO was formed to protect a nascent European identity from the Soviet threat, one which no longer exists. NATO was an analog to the protective posture of the HRE. Though today's Eurozone (EU) is akin in scope to the HRE, all member countries have their own military presence. Therefore NATO, as the analogized "military wing" of the HRE (which had served as a response to a Soviet eastern threat), is superannuated. NATO is protecting a modern HRE which has its own protective forces.

The United States needs to move on and end its NATO involvement.