LegiStorm

Summary:

On September 4-5, the leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO's) 28 member states met in Wales for the alliance's 2014 summit. This was their first meeting since Russia began providing large-scale military support to separatist forces fighting in Ukraine, and their last before the planned completion by the end of 2014 of NATO's mission in Afghanistan, the longest and most ambitious operation in NATO history. As such, some analysts portrayed the summit as an opportunity to consider a possible strategic shift for NATO, away from the broad, "out of area" focus embodied by the Afghanistan mission, toward a more narrow focus on territorial defense and deterrence, largely in response to a resurgent Russia. Although the allies did not make such decisive declarations, summit deliberations did center largely on responding to Russian aggression in Ukraine and elsewhere in the region. Summit outcomes centered on three main areas: (1) enhancing allied readiness and collective defense in response to Russian aggression; (2) increasing defense spending and boosting military capabilities; and (3) boosting NATO support for partner countries outside the alliance, including through a new "Defense Capacity Building Initiative." The allies also marked the planned withdrawal at the end of 2014 of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan and discussed a non-combat security sector training mission in the country expected to begin in 2015. The cornerstone of NATO's new collective defense initiative is a "Readiness Action Plan" intended to enable a continuous NATO military presence on the alliance's periphery, including in its easternmost member states. This includes enhanced troop rotations and military exercises in Central and Eastern Europe and establishment of a high readiness force able to deploy within a few days. Although NATO leaders have characterized the envisioned rotational troop deployments in Central and Eastern Europe as continuous, they say the deployments will not amount to a permanent NATO military presence. Some allied governments in the region, including Poland and the Baltic states, have called for larger, permanent NATO deployments. These are opposed by member states concerned about the possible negative consequences of longer-lasting militarization in the region. In Wales, the allies also sought to address widespread concerns regarding a long and ongoing decline in European defense spending—in 2013, only four allies met the alliance's target to spend 2% of GDP on defense. NATO leaders committed to halting any further decline in defense spending and pledged to aim to reach the 2% target within a decade. These declarations fell short of the shorter-term, binding commitments reportedly sought by the United States and the NATO Secretary General. A top U.S. Administration priority for the summit was to secure allied commitments to increase defense spending, enhance military capabilities, and boost contributions to NATO defense initiatives in Europe. In addition, President Obama sought to reassure European allies, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, that the United States remains prepared, capable, and willing to honor its collective defense commitments in Europe. The Administration also used the summit to gain commitments from other governments to join ongoing efforts to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Although a group of allies agreed to join these efforts, all ruled out deploying ground forces, and NATO as a whole did not commit to any new, substantive engagement in the region. Congress can continue to play an important role in guiding the U.S. and NATO response to Russian aggression in Ukraine and in addressing broader concerns regarding NATO's future. This includes consideration of the Administration's request for $925 million to fund a proposed European Reassurance Initiative. Many Members of Congress have consistently called on NATO's European allies to enhance their contributions to NATO collective defense efforts. They have also advocated a more proactive NATO enlargement policy, which they argue would send an important signal to aspiring members that NATO's "open door" policy will not be scaled back in the face of Russian opposition. The proposed Forging Peace through Strength in Ukraine and the Transatlantic Alliance Act (H.R. 4433), for example, calls for additional NATO and U.S. military assistance to Ukraine and calls for immediate NATO membership for Montenegro and the granting of a NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP) to Georgia. This report provides an overview of the summit's main agenda items and outcomes, highlighting key challenges, U.S. policy priorities, and potential issues for Congress. For more on the situation in Ukraine and NATO's response, see CRS Report R43478, NATO: Response to the Crisis in Ukraine and Security Concerns in Central and Eastern Europe, coordinated by Paul Belkin; and CRS Report RL33460, Ukraine: Current Issues and U.S. Policy, by Steven Woehrel.