WASHINGTON — US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter heads to Brussels this week looking to strengthen commitments from other members of the coalition against the Islamic State group, commonly known as ISIS or ISIL.

But it is unclear whether he can convince nations in Europe that the terrorist group represents as grave a threat to their security as that of a resurgent Russia to the east.

During a Feb. 2 speech, Carter said his plan for the Belgium trip is to gather all the defense ministers in one place, sit them down, and unveil the full campaign plan from the Pentagon.

"What I'm going to do with them is to say, all right, here are all the capabilities that are needed — boots on the ground, airplanes in the air, more prosaic things, logistics, bridging, training — training for those police that are going to patrol cities like they're patrolling Ramadi now once the cities are retaken." Carter said. "And I'm going to say, 'OK, guys, let's match up what is needed to win, with what you have,' and kind of give everybody the opportunity to make an assignment for themselves.

"The United States will lead this and we're determined, but other people have to do their part," he added, calling out Gulf allies and Turkey in particular for not doing enough. "Civilization has to fight for itself."

There will be 49 countries represented at the coalition meeting. 28 of them, including the US and Iraq, are involved in direct military action against the Islamic State forces. Another 21 nations, identified as "observing" the conversation by a senior defense official, are providing assistance in non-military means.

It is not coincidence that Carter chose to hold the coalition meeting on the backs of a NATO ministerial, according to the official, who said the Pentagon is hoping to kickstart an open conversation about the role of NATO on its southern flank, not just as an organization designed to combat Russian aggression.

"It's a fundamental question for the coalition, and there are different views," the official said, with some nations arguing NATO should operate as a block to face all threats to its partner nations, and others pushing for the "coalition of the willing" model that has been in place for the last 15 years.

The official indicated that the US is in the first camp, noting "we feel very strongly that NATO is an effective organization…it works, it is familiar, it is something that in the post 9/11 era we have used to good effect, so we believe in a strong, participatory role for NATO."

Evelyn Farkus, who served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia from 2012 until Nov. 2015, believes there is an argument to be made that all NATO partners need to do more against ISIL, as part of the idea of collective security.

"If they want the members of the alliance who are helping them deal with the threat posed by Russia to continue to do so, then it is incumbent upon them to help with the threat posed by ISIL and the southern flank, if you will," she told Defense News Feb. 5. But, "I think that argument should sway some countries. I don't know how much it will sway, especially the small ones."

Speaking to Defense News, Gen. Gratien Maire, French Vice Chief of Defense Staff, said there is a desire for partners to do more, but he expressed an understanding for why that may not be happening at the moment.

"I would certainly be happy to have more countries joining the fight and be more involved, and we've seen that recently, after the attacks in Paris," Maire said Feb. 5 in Washington. "Not all of them may have either the resources, the political will or perhaps they have other constraints as well and other concerns."

In particular, he said, eastern European nations are more concerned about the threat from Russia than from their southern borders. Hence, part of the coalition's job is to make sure nations understand the threat of ISIS.

"It might change. And obviously we would welcome any nation willing to contribute to the fight," Maire said. "So yes, I think trying to raise the issue and make sure that everyone is understanding, which might not be the case today for many reasons, the level and the depth of that threat to our societies is something that we have to do."

Non-Military Options

In comments Feb. 8, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said Sec. Carter welcomes all aid in the fight versus ISIS, including non-military assistance.

"It's not all aircraft. It's not all trainers. There are a whole host of other things that are important to this campaign going forward, whether it's logistics support, whether it's training of police" such as the Italians have done, Cook said. "And the final point I'd make is financial contributions. This is an expensive campaign, and if countries can't contribute militarily, or in some other tangible way, then certainly, financial contributions would be important as well."

Farkus said she hopes Carter's meeting helps the nations "get serious about Syria and figure out what to do on the military front." At the same time, she said, it is important for the partner nations to explore ways for putting pressure on Russia to abandon its support of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

That includes increasing sanctions above those already in place following Russia's invasion of Ukrainian territory in 2014.

"In context of the Syria problem, we could actually think about applying sanctions to Russia that we would coordinate with our Middle Eastern allies and Europe," Farkus said. "It's something that should be seriously considered."

Just as there are non-military options for nations to use on Russia, Maire says the coalition must emphasize the non-military tools to fight against ISIS. He notes, as Carter has repeatedly, that there are many lines of effort, including social ones, to try and combat the rise of the Islamic State ideology.

"I would say the military [effort] is the most visible one, and the one which raised the most expectations because people think that if we can address the issue with military than we solve the problem, which is not true," the general said. "As we used to say in France, 'winning the war is not sufficient enough to win the peace.'"

"We have to develop strategy, and it will be a long-term strategy. Which doesn't mean we don't have to do things, but we have to try and project ourselves in five, ten years from now, what do we see in this area? What do we see in terms of social development? How to manage this? And so we have many lines of action that we are taking."

According to the latest Pentagon figures, the Department of Defense has spent $5.4 billion from the start of anti-ISIS strikes on Aug. 8, 2014, through Dec. 21. That averages out to a daily cost of $11.4 million spread out over 511 days of operations. Some 69 percent of that cost has been borne by the US Air Force, 14 percent by the Army, 11 percent by the Navy and 7 percent from Special Forces.

Email: amehta@defensenews.com

Twitter: @AaronMehta

Aaron Mehta was deputy editor and senior Pentagon correspondent for Defense News, covering policy, strategy and acquisition at the highest levels of the Defense Department and its international partners.

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