Above the Arctic Circle, Infantry Marines Are Improvising to Battle Harsh Conditions as Part of NATO Force

While the physical environment is not new, the geopolitical one is. Those changes center around Russia's invasion of Ukraine and have had deep effects on NATO's concern for deterrence against the Kremlin.

"Just the name change of the exercise from Cold Response to Nordic Response I think reflects a major change," Becca Wasser, a senior fellow for the defense program at the Center for a New American Security, told Military.com on Tuesday.

"Russia's invasion of Ukraine really paved the way for them to rethink their stance and become NATO members and improve their existing coordination and alignment with NATO allies, and NATO as a headquarters organization," she said.

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