As the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan reaches the two-decade mark this year, NATO officials have made clear that they have bigger fish to fry. In the alliances new Strategy 2030 report, Afghanistan is mentioned just six times.
Yet as NATO positions itself for the next decade, the alliance has been transformed by its experience in Afghanistan and the lessons it learned there.
The cooperation of the 50-plus nations involved was a growth experience for the alliance, says Ian Lesser, executive director of the German Marshall Fund in Brussels. The bloc learned a lot ... in terms of habits of cooperation and interoperability that were tested everyday. Member forces also made use of some high-tech systems that many nations wouldnt have been exposed to in peacetime.
The alliance's lessons in Afghanistan may be in recognizing the corrosive effects of corruption and the ways in which the U.S. and its NATO allies inadvertently encouraged it, says retired Col. John Agoglia.
The billions of dollars that flooded into Afghanistan after the invasion made graft commonplace. We need to understand how we put money into an environment who were giving it to, what are the oversight mechanisms?
Brussels
As Americas longest war reaches the two-decade mark this year, one of President-elect Joe Bidens first orders of business will be figuring out a way forward in Afghanistan and, by extension, a roadmap for NATOs mission in the country.
Neither the Taliban nor Al Qaeda is at the top of Americas national security threat list anymore, and NATO officials, too, have been clear about their belief that they have bigger fish to fry. In the alliances new Strategy 2030 report, Afghanistan is mentioned just six times in 40 densely-packed pages.
The war in Afghanistan is a mission on which the success or failure of NATO was once thought to hinge. In its early days, the war was billed as not only a post-Cold War rebirth of the alliance, but also its 21st-century evolution.
No longer. The new security agenda, according to the report, will be dominated by competing great powers, in which assertive authoritarian states with revisionist foreign policy agendas in other words, China and Russia seek to expand their power and influence.
Yet as NATO prepares for the next decade, its challenges will be tackled by an alliance transformed, for better or worse, by its experience in Afghanistan and the lessons it has learned there. The question, analysts say, will be whether it chooses to heed them.
Afghanistan became NATOs marquee mission with the U.S. invasion in 2001, the first time in history that the alliance invoked Article V, which declares that an attack on one is an attack on all. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was ultimately composed of allies from 50-plus countries, including non-NATO partners.
In the early years of the war, the running joke among U.S. forces, however, was that ISAF stood for I saw Americans fight, or I sunbathed at FOBs (forward operating bases, which are heavily fortified and largely safe). The underlying critique was that some allied governments used restrictions called caveats to prevent their troops from carrying out night missions, for example, or from deploying to certain more violent parts of the country and, as a result, U.S. and other fighting forces carried a heavier load.
Still, the cooperation was a growth experience for the alliance, says Ian Lesser, executive director of the German Marshall Fund in Brussels. These caveats did in some ways hinder the ISAFs ability to operate, but it operated nonetheless, and learned a lot by that in terms of habits of cooperation and interoperability that were tested everyday.
At the same time, the experience transformed the militaries of many NATO member nations. In Germany, some 90,000 troops have deployed to Afghanistan over the years. Theres no German general today who doesnt have military or even fighting experience there, says Markus Kaim, senior fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin. The same goes, too, for a generation of soldiers in Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, and Canada.
Member forces grew accustomed to collaborating on intelligence sharing and mission planning that made use of some high-tech systems that many nations wouldnt have been exposed to in peacetime, says Anthony Cordesman, defense analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. This in turn, led to a much better appreciation for allied capabilities.
And it led to an even greater appreciation for allies themselves including non-NATO partners, many of whom, like Australia and South Korea, took part in the Afghanistan war.
If we think about any military engagement of NATO going forward, well conceptualize it not as 30 member countries of NATO, but as a loose platform that includes other organizations and non-NATO partners as well, Dr. Kaim says. NATO needs partners, he says, because NATO is aware that it cant shy away from deep political changes were seeing.
The NATO 2030 report emphasizes making the bloc a more political alliance, which means making it a place where core security concerns of all sorts are discussed, Dr. Lesser says. The Asia-Pacific region, especially China, is a case in point. Its a recognition that the definition of what bears on Euro-Atlantic security has expanded tremendously.
This focus on great power competition, coupled with the varying levels of disenchantment with missions that dont end cleanly, means that the appetite for launching military operations again anytime soon will differ across the alliance.
It starts with the question of whether NATO members consider Afghanistan a success. Was it worth all the effort, the blood? Most people would likely answer not really, Dr. Kaim says. Militarily, an alliance with impressive weapons uprooted Al Qaeda but did not defeat the Taliban, which, though an effective guerrilla force, was never a highly sophisticated threat. On the nation-building front, You spent an incredible amount of money to achieve remarkably little, Dr. Cordesman says.
Yet the definition of success itself reflects the different strategic cultures within NATO. While America is deeply uncomfortable with the notion of not winning, for many NATO allies, analysts say, it was enough to show solidarity, to be present, and to make a contribution.
More broadly, Afghanistan was seen as the price to pay, and the right thing to do for NATO in return for the reassurance those countries get from the alliance on the bigger existential threats they face, Dr. Lesser says. The fact that theyve been present in Afghanistan is simply part of the insurance policy, and you have to pay these premiums over time.
And even as most members came out of their Afghan experience more cautious about exporting democracy, the 2030 report acknowledges, it also argues that its nonetheless vital that NATO doesnt allow democratic erosion.
For this to happen, NATO must take some key lessons of Afghanistan, including the corrosive effects of corruption and the ways in which the U.S. and its NATO allies may inadvertently encourage it, says retired Col. John Agoglia, former director of both the U.S. Armys Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute and the Counterinsurgency Training Center-Afghanistan, both in Kabul.
The billions of free-flowing Western dollars that flooded into Afghanistan after the invasion made graft and fraud easy and commonplace. We need to understand how we put money into an environment who were giving it to, what are the oversight mechanisms? What could be the second and third order impacts?
Corruption "undermined the legitimacy of the Afghan government, reduced its effectiveness, and created a source of resentment for its own population," which in turn drove Taliban recruitment and made it "much more difficult" for NATO to achieve its key mission goals, "from security to effective governance," Karolina MacLachlan, policy officer at Transparency International in London, wrote in NATO Review.
Get the Monitor Stories you care about delivered to your inbox.
At the same time, in bolstering some former Soviet republics to help resist Russian democratic undercutting and influence, as in Afghanistan, we may have to deal with some people who have blood on their hands, some who are corrupt, some who are trying to reform, Colonel Agoglia says. Weve learned a lot about understanding the limits of power, how to shape it as best you can, and how to take what you can get and its not always going to look pretty.
I get the great power competition, but its won and lost in the trenches doing these things so that if you actually do have to go into combat, he adds, you own the day.
View post:
War in Afghanistan: What has NATO learned from 20 years of fighting? - The Christian Science Monitor
- NATO Protesters Receive 5- To 8-Year Prison Terms - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- NATO - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- Latvia: US troops arrive in Baltics for NATO drill - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- No NATO. May 2012. Archive. Chicago, Il - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- Erkkio Tuomioja: "Nato suojaa Suomea meteoriiteilta". - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- US troops arrive in Latvia for NATO exercises: Baltic states concerned by Russian military threat - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- Voglio andare a vivere a Laveno dove e' nato Pozzetto - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- OcaqTv - Rusiya NATO srhdini pozdu -- F-16-lar havaya qalxd - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- Men of War Assault Squad Cold War Mod - NATO vs Warsaw Pact - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- US troops in Poland: American soldiers arrive for NATO exercises in response to Russia threat - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- Ancona 23-04-14 PdCI - La crisi dell'Ucraina, la NATO e l'UE: pericoli di guerra e lotta x la Pace - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- Eastermonday Peace ralley NATO Bchel germany 21.04.2014 - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- How to change Gear 2 Strap NATO no tool needed - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- In Context: The War Report #3 - Ukraine and NATO - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- On The Wrist Omega Speedmaster Black NATO Strap - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- US, NATO expanding on Russia doorstep: Analyst - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- NATO War Games Send Warning to Moscow - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- NATO to deploy recon flights over Poland - April 27th, 2014 [April 27th, 2014]
- Nato News - April 27th, 2014 [April 27th, 2014]
- NATO - State - April 27th, 2014 [April 27th, 2014]
- NATO: Definition from Answers.com - Answers - The Most ... - April 27th, 2014 [April 27th, 2014]
- Marine Le Pen: Vyvediem Franczsko z NATO - francztina, rutina - Video - April 27th, 2014 [April 27th, 2014]
- 5 NATO troops killed in Kandahar Afghanistan UK's helicopter crash - Video - April 27th, 2014 [April 27th, 2014]
- European observers detained in Ukraine are branded 'Nato spies' - Video - April 27th, 2014 [April 27th, 2014]
- Prostittas priecjas par NATO karavriem Latvij - Video - April 27th, 2014 [April 27th, 2014]
- MV Bill - A Luz #PersianaBaixaMix (prod. DJ Nato pk) Part. @KmillaCdd - Video - April 27th, 2014 [April 27th, 2014]
- Furious Russia Proposes Retaliation Against NATO Countries! - Video - April 27th, 2014 [April 27th, 2014]
- Conversation: NATO's Evolving Mission - Video - April 27th, 2014 [April 27th, 2014]
- NATO supply trucks stuck in Pakistan - Video - April 28th, 2014 [April 28th, 2014]
- NATO troops killed in Afghanistan helicopter crash - Video - April 28th, 2014 [April 28th, 2014]
- Slovakia: NATO exercises in Central Europe - Video - April 28th, 2014 [April 28th, 2014]
- "NATO 3" individuals sentenced - Video - April 28th, 2014 [April 28th, 2014]
- NATO exercise scenario: Naval response to invasion of allied country - April 29th, 2014 [April 29th, 2014]
- NATO News and Video - FOX News Topics - FOXNews.com - April 29th, 2014 [April 29th, 2014]
- RAF Typhoons Arrive in Lithuania to Reinforce NATO Air Policing Mission - Video - April 29th, 2014 [April 29th, 2014]
- Poland: French Rafale fighter jets join NATO force - Video - April 29th, 2014 [April 29th, 2014]
- RAF Deploys Typhoon Jets To Bolster Nato Air Policing Mission - Video - April 29th, 2014 [April 29th, 2014]
- Sunday 4/27/2014 - Tarpley Points Out Fake-OSCE Observers Are Actually NATO Military Officers - Video - April 29th, 2014 [April 29th, 2014]
- Germany: Pro-Russians rally against NATO in Frankfurt - Video - April 29th, 2014 [April 29th, 2014]
- April 28 2014 Breaking News NATO minesweepers set off on Baltic deployment - Video - April 30th, 2014 [April 30th, 2014]
- NATO forces serve world bankers: Analyst - Video - April 30th, 2014 [April 30th, 2014]
- 2 NATO troops killed in attack in eastern Afghanistan - Video - April 30th, 2014 [April 30th, 2014]
- STEFANO BORGONOVO:ATTACCANTE NATO IL DOCUMENTARIO - Video - April 30th, 2014 [April 30th, 2014]
- RAF Deploys Typhoon Jets To Bolster NATO Air Policing Mission - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- NATO opens second Baltic air base in Estonia with 4 Danish fighter jets amid Ukraine crisis - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- NATO triples fighter jets in Baltic countries - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Lithuania: US hands over NATO air patrol to UK - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Ukraine: Kerry announces more support from NATO towards coup - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Scoring Political Points? NATO bolsters forces in Eastern Europe - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Putin: NATO Chief Rasmussen secretly taped, leaked meeting when he was Danish PM - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Russia Accuses NATO of 'Provocative' Actions - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- NATO & its future NAZI headquarters - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- NATO Fest 2014 - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- RAF Jets Respond To Ukraine Crisis 28.04.14 - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- OSCE team in Ukraine NATO spies: Analyst - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- NATO commander: Europe concept on international borders changed after Crimea annexation - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- NATO allies take over Baltic mission from Air Force - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- NATO official says Russia must now be viewed as more of an enemy than a partner - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- NATO official says Russia now an adversary - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- North Atlantic Treaty Organization - The New York Times - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Estonian Air Base Turns Into Second NATO Baltic States Hub - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Finale Ligure Freeride H e Base nato con Patrik - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Ellodesse Mv.1, 2, 3 - nato in Synthesia - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- NATO Boosts Presence in Eastern Europe Amid Continued Turmoil in Ukraine - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- NATO's efforts to attain advancement in ariel warfare and defense HD Stock Footage - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Me Gusta By Nato 2014 - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Toward a Europe Whole and Free: Secretary of State John Kerry - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- NATO official: Russian moves in Ukraine pose 'grave challenge' to global security system - May 2nd, 2014 [May 2nd, 2014]
- As NATO Builds It's Forces The Economy Is On The Brink Of Collapse -- Episode 355 - Video - May 2nd, 2014 [May 2nd, 2014]
- 15 years on: NATO's Murino Massacre of innocent children remembered In the NOW. - Video - May 2nd, 2014 [May 2nd, 2014]
- Nato -- finally finding its feet? - Video - May 2nd, 2014 [May 2nd, 2014]
- Europe Responds to Russian Aggression: NATO opens second Baltic hub at Estonia's Amari air base - Video - May 2nd, 2014 [May 2nd, 2014]
- NATO air strength triples in Baltic states - Video - May 2nd, 2014 [May 2nd, 2014]
- Russia now an adversary, NATO official says - May 3rd, 2014 [May 3rd, 2014]
- NATO Movie - Video - May 3rd, 2014 [May 3rd, 2014]
- The Expandables: NATO talking heads, war tech on 'crusade control' - Video - May 3rd, 2014 [May 3rd, 2014]
- Friend to Foe? NATO's Deputy Head classifies Russia as enemy over Ukrainian crisis - Video - May 3rd, 2014 [May 3rd, 2014]
- Tiger's Eye Dance by Oasis Dancers at 2014 NATO - JVC Version - Video - May 3rd, 2014 [May 3rd, 2014]
- Cleopatra's Dance by Oasis Dancers at 2014 NATO - JVC Version - Video - May 3rd, 2014 [May 3rd, 2014]
- Slave To The Rhythm Dance by Oasis Dancer at 2014 NATO - JVC Version - Video - May 3rd, 2014 [May 3rd, 2014]