Five years later, as Rasmussen wraps up his tenure as the 12th secretary general in NATO's history, the U.S., Canada and their European allies are again squaring off against the Russians, and must confront a more diverse and bewildering array of threats to Western security than ever. "Rasmussen played a valuable role in helping convince NATO members to contribute additional forces to President Barack Obama's surge strategy," said Jorge Benitez, senior fellow for trans-Atlantic security at the Washington, D.C.-based Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security. Earlier this year, when Russian's military occupied and annexed Crimea, then began what the Western governments called a "stealth invasion" of eastern Ukraine, Rasmussen loudly and repeatedly voiced his outrage — and worked hard in public and behind the scenes to help forge trans-Atlantic unity and an effective and credible military response. [...] 25 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, NATO was still looking for its purpose. A key component of the plan is creation of a highly mobile multinational "spearhead" force that could be sent at short notice to Poland, the Baltic states or any other NATO member at risk.