“East Europeans whinge about security,” you open your article about defense spending on the eastern frontier of the European Union, “but few want to pay for it” (“Scars, Scares, and Scarcity,” May 14, 2011). “And why should outsiders bother to protect countries that won’t take their own defense seriously?” you ask in the last sentence rather belligerently. To set the record straight, the good old cordon sanitaire was set up after World War I to protect Europe against the evils of communism. That is, possible Soviet inroads. It is still there to serve a similar purpose long after the demise of the appalling social experiment. To begin with, the Union is an American protectorate. Then, the rich countries of the protectorate need some sort of buffer against possible Russian inroads. Therefore, America and the Union entrusted to its care should pay for the privilege to be second or third in line if Russia gets a bit more ambitious in the future. And that is the simplest possible answer to your question why countries like Poland, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Lithuania are whingeing about security but unwilling to pay for it.