The US Defense Secretary Panetta and Secretary of State Clinton participated in Munich Security Conference. It was the first time that the two American secretaries appeared jointly which was to designed to assure the purpose of the US to put emphasis on the relationship between Europe. The anxiety of Europe began from the defense cuts and the withdrawal of two American combat brigades. In the address of Ms. Clinton, especially, the US tried to convince Europe that the fundamental partership between the US and Europe continues, in spite of the US' focus more toward the Asia-Pacific region. However, many European officers said that "the changing American focus marked a major strategic shift," which begun with the Libyan war, where the US and Europe failed to understand each other's position. Now, the US has about 80,000 military personnel at 28 military bases in Europe. During the Cold War, the US had kept large troops in Europe to protect the region from the Red Army. For the recent decades, however, as the military focus of the US has moved, many of the forces also moved to another areas as needed such as Iraq or Afghanistan.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/world/europe/panetta-clinton-troops-europe.html?ref=world
Sophia Park
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