Biden Puts More Military Muscle Into NATO's Russia Response

"The Pentagon announced on Monday that it was placing 8,500 U.S. troops on heightened alert, including troops that could deploy as part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Response Force. Largely led and manned by Europeans, this force was built for the kind of crisis that Russia is fomenting with its destabilizing buildup around Ukraine.

But during the NRF's nearly 20 years in existence, the alliance has treated it like an antiquarian book -- very expensive and rarely taken off the shelf. The U.S. troop alert indicates not only that Washington is shifting from its strategy of restraint but also that it wants to keep NATO at the center of any response to a Russian reinvasion of Ukraine. This makes sense, but the alliance has been unwilling to use the NRF in the past.

The multinational NRF was the brainchild of American defense leaders in the early 2000s. After NATO operations in Kosovo, which were conducted largely by U.S. forces, American leaders wanted European allies to be able to act quickly with more-capable military power. The NRF is based on a rotational system in which allies commit land, air, maritime or special-operations forces for a period of 12 months. The leadership of the NRF rotates annually among a relatively small group of European allies known as "framework nations."

After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2014, NATO shortened the response time of the NRF's centerpiece multinational brigade of 5,000 troops to as little as two to three days. NATO also increased the total size of the NRF to about 40,000 troops from 13,000, but this change was essentially an exercise in creative accounting. NATO simply declared that the troops that had just completed their 12-month tour, as well as the troops designated for the next 12-month rotation, were all considered part of the NRF and deployable within 30 to 45 days.

Since the NRF's inception, though, NATO has been reluctant to use it. Aside from Afghan election support (2004), Athens Olympics security (2004), disaster relief in Pakistan and the U.S. (both in 2005), and Afghan refugee evacuation (2021), the NRF has seen little action. NATO didn't use the NRF to reinforce the Baltic states, Poland or Romania in response to Russia's actions in 2014.

One reason for the alliance's unwillingness to deploy the NRF for anything more than the most passive military missions is that doing so requires consensus. Some allies, such as France, have been reluctant to see the alliance make full use of this capability.

The Biden administration's decision to place thousands of U.S. troops on high alert and earmark them for potential NATO duty is significant for three reasons. First, Washington is underscoring that the core response to Russian aggression will be managed through a unified NATO. In recent days, there have been cracks in the united Western approach to Russia's buildup of forces. Although some argue Washington deserves part of the blame, the real fissures are in Europe, where a new German government hasn't found its footing on Russia policy.

Second, by earmarking troops for potential deployment in the NRF before NATO has even decided to activate it, Washington appears eager to overcome the alliance's reluctance to use this rapid-response tool. This nudge is especially necessary given that the NRF's lead country in 2022 is France.

Third, Washington's announcement appears intended to inspire confidence among some of America's more hesitant European allies, including Germany, that currently contribute forces to the NRF. The NRF is typically comprised of European combat forces, not American troops, and there have been some doubts about its effectiveness. Announcing that thousands of U.S. troops would participate in any NRF activation could bolster the confidence of the other troop-contributing countries.

The U.S. approach isn't without risk, including Germany's equivocation toward Russia and the politics surrounding France's April presidential election. But Washington's decision to announce the alert in advance of another Russian attack, tie it to the NRF, and double down on a multilateral approach is a welcome shift in strategy.

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Mr. Deni is a research professor at the U.S. Army War College's Strategic Studies Institute, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and the author of "Coalition of the unWilling and unAble: European Realignment and the Future of American Geopolitics."" [1]

1. Biden Puts More Military Muscle Into NATO's Russia Response
Deni, John R. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 27 Jan 2022: A.17.