NATO troops conducted a routine war exercise in the Arctic. This year felt different

In March, a U.S. Marine Corps general aboard an Italian aircraft carrier floating in an Arctic fjord directed French troops to launch an amphibious assault from a Dutch ship to repel the occupation of Norway.

It was just a simulation — part of NATO's "Cold Response" exercise, which happens every two years. This year, however, with all eyes looking across Norway's border with Russia, the exercise felt a bit more real.

Text by Quil Lawrence, NPR, April 15, 2022
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