Security: A German military overhaul
On the tactical front, the Bundeswehr invested heavily in tanks and armoured brigades. "Their role was to absorb the first wave of Russian tanks advancing across Europe, and halt them, in order to give the US time to come to the rescue," says Tomas Valasek, of the Centre for European Reform in London. "Germany has been saddled with the burden of the past in this regard, and it is right to change it".