Right strategy, wrong place-why NATO's comprehensive approach will fall in Afghanistan

Abstract

NATO has been right to adopt a joint Comprehensive Approach (CA) involving the international community since it is a prerequisite for success in its crisis response operations. However, it has been wrong to hail its CA as a “sine qua non” for success in Afghanistan, as the new strategy remains a work in progress. This article demonstrates that NATO’s CA will fail in Afghanistan because three necessary conditions cannot be (1) Creation of NATO consensus on how the CA should be implemented, (2) Institutionalization of CA doctrine, procedures and thinking within the Alliance enabling it to plug and play with other actors, and (3) Establishment of effective cooperation with the organizations and local actors that NATO must cooperate with in Afghanistan.