Now that combat operations have ended in Afghanistan, NATO is moving its attention to Europe, where it hopes to amass a rapid-response military force capable of deterring any possible Russian aggression, The Associated Press reported.
Readying the force for operation is the 28-member alliance's main goal for 2015, and officials hope the operation will not only send a message to Russia, but also ease the minds of alliance countries feeling threatened by Moscow.
It's NATO's "top priority to implement this plan in full and on time," said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who described the efforts as "the biggest reinforcement of our collective defense since the end of the Cold War," the AP reported.
The move was at least partially instigated by Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, along with Moscow's alleged involvement in a proxy war in eastern Ukraine.
"NATO's biggest challenge in 2015 will be focusing on and advancing its core mission - ensuring the security of the alliance's members and promoting stability in Europe," said Michael Brown, dean of the Elliot School of International Affairs at George Washington University, reported the AP.
"This will be a challenge because the alliance's leaders have taken collective defense for granted for many years, because Russia has developed an array of unconventional tactics that will require new and unconventional responses, and because NATO will continue to be involved in training activities in Afghanistan."
It's still unclear who will foot the bill, and many are looking to the U.S. to finance most. Others are looking to NATO's wealthiest member country, Germany, said Bruno Lete, senior program officer for foreign and security policy at the German Marshall Fund, a Brussels-based think tank.
Bruno added that it's critical that as many members as possible contribute, or the "plan will lose its legitimacy."
NATO conducted more than 200 military exercises in 2014, and is expected to continue at that pace.
The U.S. plans to send around 150 tanks and armored vehicles to Europe by the end of 2015, Lieutenant-General Ben Hodges, commander of the U.S. Army in Europe, said in December, according to Reuters.
Hodges also said several hundred troops will remain in Poland and the Baltic states for at least the next year.
A new military doctrine signed in December by Russian President Valdimir Putin named NATO as Russia's number one military threat, and states that Russia could employ nuclear weapons in retaliation for the use of nukes or other weapons of mass destruction against Moscow or its allies, Al Jazeera reported.
