NATO's effectiveness in addressing challenges in Afghanistan

¶ … successfully is NATO dealing with the challenges it forces in Afghanistan?

The end of the Cold War represented an important moment in the history of the contemporary world. It marked the start of various ethnic conflicts in regions such as Africa or the Middle East. At the same time though, it was an era marked by internal civil wars that took their toll on the organization of the states internally. The war in Afghanistan is representative in this sense. The elimination of the Taliban regime in 2001 marked the beginning of a new era of reconstruction of the state. This is an ongoing process engaging various international organizations such as the United Nations. At the same time however, the Afghan government holds a crucial role in the eventual success of the reconstruction process and to a large extent it is responsible for the final outcome. Nonetheless, NATO is considered to be the most important element in the equation due to the wide range of its activities and the resources it has at its disposal for this mission.

The creation of a safe, viable, and functional state in Afghanistan has often been placed in doubt since the reconstruction began. In order to assess the success of the North Atlantic Treaty Organizations, it is important to consider the general background of its mission, the main aims set for the International Security Assistance Force, the results in terms of both successes and failures, and future actions needed to reach the final outcome set in the mission's statement.

Background

The International Security Assistance Force is, according to official sources, "UN-mandated (...) international force of some 41,700 troops (including National Support Elements) that assists the Afghan authorities in extending and exercising its authority and influence across the country, creating the conditions for stabilization and reconstruction." Therefore, it can be stated from the very beginning the fact that, unlike other missions that have entered state territories in different regions of the world, the ISAF has the full agreement of the world body. This acceptance is due to the fact that its activities are in strong connection with the actions undergone by the UN mission in Afghanistan, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.

The war that eventually led to the ousting of the Taliban regime and which marked the start of the political reconstruction of the country was seen as a viable solution in the general war against terrorism that has engaged the majority of democratic nations around the world, following the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. The American political elites considered at the time that the Taliban regime was the one responsible for harboring the terrorist network of the Al Qaeda. In this sense, "The U.S.-led coalition war on terrorism in Afghanistan at the end of 2001 scored quick and spectacular military achievements, opening the way for Afghanistan to free itself from the grips of extremism and the scourge of international isolation. In less than two months, the Taliban regime was shattered, the al- Qaeda establishment broken up, and its leadership forced to run." However, as the conflict between various forces inside the country was already a simmering issue for the political scene, the civil war that broke out was a rather tough conflict to contain. From this point-of-view, there was as stringent need for international intervention in order to bring the country back on the road to democracy, after decades of totalitarian rule from the Taliban regime.

The Bonn Conference in December 2001 set the framework for the future conduct of internal political affairs through the establishment of the Interim Authority and set the timeframe for the creation of a Transitional Authority until the afghan people would be able to elect their own representatives in a democratically established political system. However, this political exercise demanded, aside from a tradition in the voting system, additional help from international institutions that would help create a viable system in which the people could freely and without constrains express their choice.

The United Nations was the first international organization to get involved and established the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. In this sense, "its original mandate was aimed at supporting the process of rebuilding and national reconciliation outlined in the Bonn Agreement of December 2001. Today, Afghanistan has moved on from the Bonn Process and the Mission's work has adapted accordingly." In this context, the Afghanistan Compact is representative because it stands out as the new level of evolution in the search for stability and security in the country.

NATO, success and failure

NATO forces have been deployed following the concretization of a more coherent political framework which could be used by a traditionally military alliance such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It is widely considered as being the most important player in the realization of the goals set up in the Afghanistan Compact. The document dating 31 January 2006 openly stated that the political authority in the country, combined with the additional forces present on its territory would act to achieve tree main goals relating to "security; governance, rule of law and human rights; and economic and social development." In this general framework, the activities of the ISAF have been conducted and its successes and failures must be seen from this perspective combined with that given by the Mission's own set of goals.

There is a confusing aspect related to the actual ISAF mission which is generally viewed as being a UN force. However, it must be pointed out the fact that although it has the agreement of the United Nations and it is in full cooperation with the UN mission on the ground, its methods and actions are different from the ones typically used in UN missions. From this point-of-view, in order to assess the success of the NATO presence in Afghanistan, it is important to consider the areas in which it is involved.

Firstly, the ISAF is engaged in security related issues. More precisely, it has an important role in the establishment of a security environment that would cater for the needs of the population. In this aspect, NATO works through the Provincial Reconstruction Teams. These include regional projects such as "the rehabilitation of schools and medical facilities, restoring water supplies and providing support for other civil-military projects." These were joint civilian-military units deployed during the U.S. led mission Enduring Freedom. The model was established at the initiative of the U.S. And included "seventy-nine American military and three civilian government representatives." However, despite the leadership of the U.S., there were certain elements which could not be coordinated properly and thus the degree to which some consider the success of this type of operations is rather limited.

On the one hand, the cosmopolite nature of the force created a certain sense of discontinuity in terms of the techniques used. In this sense, reports have shown that "the U.S. military did not emulate the British Army, despite its success in disarming rival militias. Likewise, U.S. civilian agencies were unable to adopt the approaches of the Europeans, which would require fundamental changes in legislation and organization." Therefore this apparent lack of coordination led to a limited success in terms of viable results.

On the other hand, there was also a limited support from the local authorities in order to implement the strategies of reconstruction and security building. Due to the fact that most Afghans viewed the presence of the international forces as a symbol of occupation, they were reluctant to offer support in the actions meant at rebuilding the infrastructure. From this point-of-view, as well, it can be said that although there were certain successes, most of the initiatives met an unenthusiastic population and, without the support of the civilian force and lacking the national legitimacy for their presence, the international forces were powerless to fully achieve their goals.

The degree to which such missions are considered to be a success or a failure depends to a large extent on the perspective taken on the situation. Therefore, it can be said that from a theoretical point-of-view, the initiatives of the international forces were consistent with the aims of the mission. For a country such as Afghanistan in which the political system was in disarray, destroyed by a civil war and marked by decades of Taliban rule in which the democratic participation was reduced to inexistence, the need for a security environment in which the society would freely exercise its role, was a worthy approach. However, there was little consideration for the practicality of the project and for the specificities of the area in which the international forces would conduct their actions. The framing of a western type of system, both from a political and a security point-of-view was not feasible because there was a different tradition in the country, one that could not be changed in a short period of time. In this sense, "underlying many of the decisions, officials say, was a misapprehension about what Americans would find on the ground in Afghanistan. The perception was that Afghans hated foreigners and that the Iraqis would welcome us" Consequently, the international forces could not have been perceived as being legitimate from the population's point-of-view, hence the rejection of most initiatives taken by the U.S. led forces.

Also, another drawback for the plan set in place was precisely the cosmopolite nature of the forces. Indeed, the actions taken in Afghanistan enjoyed a wider international support by comparison to the war in Iraq. Nonetheless, the specificities of each group taking part in the international effort took their toll on the fluency of the activities. The lack of coordination can be considered as being a natural result of the limited amount of time had for the establishment of the contingencies taking part in the operations and for the ambiguous nature of the mandate they were given. From this point-of-view, the results even if they were important for the population, were less than expected.

NATO got involved in the wider project for reconstruction of Afghanistan also through the Senior Civilian Representative, "the political leadership of the Alliance in Kabul officially and publicly (and) provides a direct channel of communication between the theatre, NATO Headquarters in Brussels, and the North Atlantic Council, the Alliance's principal decision-making body." He represents thus the political element of the participation of the NATO forces in Afghanistan. The current Representative, Ambassador Daan W. Everts has shown in various interviews an optimistic view on the achievements of the Alliance since the end of the war, by pointing out that society has evolved in the sense of the improvement of the schooling system, education, and fair treatment of women. Also, the democratization of the political system is also considered as a step forward especially from the point-of-view of the regional tradition. Moreover, a better judicial system and an evolving infrastructure are issues underlined as being noticeable progress in the country. He concludes that the ISAF mission is "noble by motivation and objective." Therefore, from the approach considered by the Ambassador in his mission, it can be said that in terms of diplomatic relations, NATO has had an important contribution for the reemergence of Afghanistan on the international political scene.