Bangladesh, Nov. 15 -- When the Pentagon quietly announced last month that up to 1,000 US troops stationed in Romania would return home without replacements, the reaction in Washington was swift – and furious. Foreign policy experts, lawmakers, and even senior figures within President Donald Trumps own Republican Party expressed deep concern. The decision, presented without consultation or strategic context, raised fundamental questions about Americas global posture, its commitment to allies, and the internal coherence of its national security policymaking.

What might otherwise have been interpreted as a minor adjustment in troop numbers instead became a revealing episode that exposed the fractures within the administrations foreig...