Poland has recently decided to come aboard the US plans for such a missile defense shield, and will allow the systems to be deployed in their country. However, it is not clear as to whether the Polish government believes that this may be a protection against an Iranian as much as it would be against a Russian one. Russia has long held the belief that such a missile system is indeed not to protect Europe from a Middle East attack, but its purpose is instead to protect Europe from them, as well as give the US a strategic advantage over the Kremlin.
Either scenario you choose it seems that the US is strategically placing its power and influence in regions that are surrounding Russia and putting Moscow into a bitter battle to keep them from being outflanked. It is certain that as time goes by we will see just how much the bear can take before it strikes. We already have news reports of Russian officials threatening Poland with nuclear strikes should it allow the installation of US based missile systems. It has appeared in news reports from the Jerusalem Post and other International media outlets that Russia is considering arming its Baltic fleet with nukes.
This must definitely be considered by the US as a warning that indeed if the defense missile systems are placed throughout Europe, then their will be a Russian reaction that most certainly thrust us back into the “Cold War” that we fought so hard to get out of. However, I do not believe that there are many officials at the times of the Soviet collapse nor even in these present times that believed that Russia would bow down and forget about its plans for global dominion, even if they had slowed a bit.