NATO has changed...ten of the new members are former Soviet Bloc nations and no doubt will hold on to the AK's.
Wether they stick with the 7.62x39mm or opt for the Russian
5.45x39 mm is debatable.
Current US experience in urban warfare shows that the 5.56 falls way short in the penetration dept.
There many positives with the XM-8, it is ambidextrous without conversion,magazines can be clipped together so that they can be carried on the weapon side by side.The butt stock is adjustable and above all reliability.
The important thing we can all agree on, is that our soldiers are armed with the best weapon.How we get there is open to debate.
5.45 mm sucks.