NATO has taken on missions beyond Europe since the Cold War ended, including in Afghanistan. After 9/11, NATO invoked its collective defense clause and took command of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan in 2003, its first mission outside of Europe. At its height, NATO commanded over 130,000 troops from 50 allied countries in Afghanistan. NATO completed its Afghanistan mission in 2014 but remained to provide training and assistance until withdrawing all remaining forces in 2021, ending its 20-year involvement.

1. NATO and gwot
Presented By:
Zunair Ahmed
Nargis Tahira
Suhaib Ullah

2. Introduction
•Founded in 1949 as a bulwark against Soviet aggression, the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) remains the pillar of U.S.-Europe
military cooperation.
•An expanding bloc of NATO allies has taken on a broad range of
missions since the close of the Cold War, many well beyond the Euro-
Atlantic region, in countries such as Afghanistan and Libya.

3. Structure
•Headquartered in Brussels, NATO is a consensus-based alliance in
which decisions must be unanimous.
• However, individual states or subgroups of allies can initiate
action outside NATO’s auspices.
• For instance, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom
began policing a UN-sanctioned no-fly zone in Libya in early 2011
and, within days, transferred command of the operation to NATO
once Turkey’s concerns had been allayed.
• Member states are not required to participate in every NATO
operation; Germany and Poland declined to contribute directly to
the campaign in Libya.

4. Afghanistan
•NATO invoked its collective defense provision, Article V, for the
first time following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United
States, which were perpetrated by the Afghanistan-based al-
Qaeda terrorist network.
•Shortly after U.S.-led forces toppled the Taliban regime in Kabul,
the UN Security Council authorized an International Security
Assistance Force (ISAF) to support the new Afghan government.
• NATO formally assumed command of ISAF in 2003, marking its
first operational commitment beyond Europe. Analysts say that
the mission in Afghanistan marked a turning point for the
alliance by signaling that NATO was adapting to the post–Cold War
security environment.

5. Cont…
•NATO commanded over 130,000 troops from more than
fifty alliance and partner countries at the height of its
commitment in Afghanistan. After thirteen years of war,
ISAF completed its mission in 2014.
•In 2015, NATO began a noncombat support mission to
provide training, funding, and other assistance to the
Afghan government.

6. Cont…
• The United States and NATO allies withdrew their
remaining forces—about 10,000 troops—from
Afghanistan in 2021, bringing the alliance’s twenty-year
military operation to a close.
• Although a slight majority of Americans supported the
decision, some Western officials and security analysts
criticized the Joe Biden administration’s handling of the
withdrawal and its refusal to keep any residual force in
the country.
• The Taliban, an Islamist fundamentalist movement,
regained control of the country following NATO’s exit.