From Assumption to Expansion: Planning and Executing NATO's First Year in Afghanistan at the Strategic Level

摘要

NATO initiated its first expeditionary operation when it assumed the International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) mission in Afghanistan. In the space of a year, NATO expanded the mission twice and deployed troops to support the first successful democratic elections in the country. Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), as NATO's strategic military headquarters, conducted the strategic planning, force generation, and execution of this mission. Strategic planning and force generation in NATO, though technically similar to standard U.S. Joint and U.S.-led Coalition processes, is in reality a unique system that functions by its own set of rules. As NATO continues to assume a larger role in operations in Afghanistan and possibly Iraq, understanding how this 26-nation Alliance operates at the strategic level is extremely important. This issue is particularly relevant to most U.S. officers assigned to NATO positions or to Joint and Army billets that deal with the Alliance in that they arrive at their posts unschooled in how NATO operates, often to their resulting dismay and frustration. With this critical audience in mind, this Strategy Research Project will describe the SHAPE role within the Alliance and, using NATO's first year in Afghanistan as the backdrop, discuss the key players, processes, procedures, and issues faced by those involved in planning Alliance operations at the strategic level. While recognizing SHAPE's strategic successes to date, this paper highlights the larger issue of Alliance will (underscored by problems with force generation) as the most pressing impediment to NATO expeditionary aspirations, assesses Alliance efforts to resolve this issue, and presents specific recommendations to enhance the expeditionary nature of the Alliance.