NATO and the Afghanistan mission: lessons for the alliance

Abstract

NATO’s second mission outside of its traditional area of operations, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, is nearing a decade in length. The mission has highlighted shortfalls in NATO’s capabilities, challenged NATO’s its relationships with countries across the globe, and shown that while ISAF may have been agreed to by consensus, there is no unity within NATO on how to execute the mission. This paper uses critical analysis to explore these issues facing ISAF and draws conclusions as to the probable long term implications they will have for NATO.