With the end of the term of Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO has a new secretary-general, and one who is decidedly less hawkish, and more open to reconciliation with Russia after months of rising tension.

The new chief, former Norwegian Premier Jens Stollenberg, says he believes there is no reason that NATO should consider its own strength a contradiction to a positive relationship with Russia.

How accepting the NATO hawks will be to Stollenberg, who in his youth was an anti-NATO protester, at a time when many of them, the US in particular, are looking to ratchet up their hostility toward Russia.

If he can keep the rest of the alliance on board, however, his history of success at brokering compromises could allow for a pretty quick rapprochement with Russia, and save the alliance members from the mounting expense of military buildup along the Russian frontier.