Is Afghanistan A Nato Member? Understanding The Alliance's Role In The Country's Turbulent Past And Future Prospects

Afghanistan is not a part of NATO. However, it was a designated major non-NATO ally of the United States from 2012 until 2022. This status allowed Afghanistan to receive military training and assistance, and to be a location for US-owned war reserve stockpiles. In 2021, NATO forces withdrew from Afghanistan, and in 2022, President Biden rescinded Afghanistan's major non-NATO ally status.

NATO's involvement in Afghanistan was not a nation-building mission

NATO's involvement in Afghanistan was prompted by the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States. In the aftermath of the attacks, NATO invoked Article V of the North Atlantic Treaty, which states that an attack on one member state is considered an attack on all. This marked the first time in NATO's history that Article V was invoked.

In 2001, NATO allies and partner countries deployed military forces to Afghanistan under a United Nations (UN) mandate. The goal of the mission was to deny international terrorist networks in Afghanistan the ability to organise and launch attacks on NATO member countries.

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was established in December 2001 under the auspices of the UN Security Council. ISAF's primary objective was to enable the Afghan government to provide effective security across the country and develop new Afghan security forces. ISAF was led by NATO from 2003 until it was disbanded in 2014.

While ISAF did provide security assistance to the Afghan government, it was not a nation-building mission. Instead, ISAF focused on countering the growing insurgency and establishing a safe and secure environment in Afghanistan.

ISAF's efforts included training and mentoring the Afghan National Security Forces, supporting broader stabilisation and reconstruction efforts, and laying the foundations for improvements in governance and socio-economic development.

Despite ISAF's efforts, the Taliban remained a resilient force in Afghanistan. In 2021, the Afghan government collapsed, and the Taliban retook control of the country. This marked the end of NATO's nearly two-decade-long involvement in Afghanistan.

NATO did not play a part in creating the International Security Assistance Force

Afghanistan is not a part of NATO. However, NATO allies and partner countries had military forces deployed in Afghanistan under a United Nations (UN) mandate. This was in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States, to ensure that Afghanistan would not become a safe haven for international terrorists to attack NATO member countries.

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386 pursuant to the Bonn Agreement, which outlined the establishment of a permanent Afghan government following the US invasion in October 2001. ISAF's primary goal was to train the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and assist Afghanistan in rebuilding key government institutions. It was a NATO-led security mission, with all 29 NATO allies and 22 partner nations contributing forces.

Despite leading ISAF for more than a decade, NATO did not play a part in its creation. The security assistance force was announced at the Bonn Conference in December 2001 under the auspices of the UN Security Council, not NATO. The UN Security Council Resolution 1386 officially mandated ISAF to "assist the Afghan Interim Authority in the maintenance of security in Kabul and its surrounding areas." The responsibility for overseeing the original 5,000-person multinational force for the first six months was assigned to the United Kingdom. Thereafter, ISAF's command rotated to a new lead nation every six months, first to Turkey (July 2002-January 2003) and then to Germany (January 2003-August 2003).

By the fall of 2002, it was becoming clear to nations contributing forces to ISAF that the security force would benefit from having NATO's military headquarters in Mons, Belgium, assume responsibility for the force generation process needed to sustain the Kabul-based operation. The difficulties ISAF's lead countries experienced in sourcing personnel for the Kabul force, coupled with the Pentagon's waning attention toward Afghanistan as it prepared to invade Iraq in the spring of 2003, led Washington and its NATO allies to conclude that the time had come for the alliance to take charge of ISAF. Accordingly, on August 11, 2003, NATO assumed command of ISAF, marking the alliance's official entry into Afghanistan.

While NATO would remain in charge of ISAF until the security force was eventually stood down at the end of 2014, ISAF remained a NATO-led (rather than a purely NATO) force due to the large number of non-NATO countries contributing personnel to the mission. These included Australia, Georgia, Jordan, and the Republic of Korea, each operating under its own rules of engagement.

The US did not blindside NATO with its hasty withdrawal

The US withdrawal from Afghanistan was not a hasty decision, but rather the result of a long-planned strategy. The US withdrawal was first announced in February 2020, when the Trump administration signed the Doha agreement with the Taliban, stipulating that all US troops would be withdrawn from Afghanistan by May 2021. This was later extended to September 2021 by the Biden administration.

The US did not blindside its NATO allies with this decision. In April 2021, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin briefed NATO allies on the withdrawal plans at a joint meeting of foreign and defence ministers. NATO's Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg, confirmed that all allies were in agreement with the decision to withdraw, stating that:

> "All Allies agreed. And all Allies agreed actually a statement, which we agreed at the ministerial meeting today, where we clearly state that we now have decided to start the withdrawal of all our NATO troops from Afghanistan, starting first of May. And the plan is to finalize that drawdown, or withdrawal, within a few months."

In fact, the "in together, out together" mantra had always been the alliance's approach since NATO first took over the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission in 2003.

Most European allies had been quietly removing their forces from Afghanistan since April 2021. Spain completed its troop withdrawal in May, and several other allies, including Germany, Italy, Norway, and Romania, completed their withdrawals the following month, weeks before the US began accelerating its troop pullout. As a result, fewer than half of the 7,000 non-American troops serving in Afghanistan at the start of the year remained by June 30.

However, the US withdrawal did prompt concerns among NATO allies about the future of the alliance. The perception of US credibility has been shaken, with many allies questioning whether they can rely on US security guarantees in the future. There is also a sense of impotence among European allies, who were dependent on the US to evacuate their personnel and citizens from Afghanistan. This has led to a realisation that they may need to ease themselves off their reliance on the US and invest in their own security.

NATO allies could not have stayed in Afghanistan after the US left

Secondly, the US-Taliban agreement signed in February 2020 committed the US to withdrawing all international forces from Afghanistan by May 2021. This meant that when US President Joe Biden announced the US withdrawal in April 2021, NATO allies had little choice but to follow suit. Indeed, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed that the decision to withdraw all remaining forces was made collectively by NATO foreign and defence ministers.

Thirdly, the rapid collapse of the Afghan government and security forces over the summer of 2021 left NATO with no choice but to shift its attention to evacuating Allied personnel and vulnerable Afghan citizens. More than 120,000 people were evacuated by 30 August, in one of the largest airlift evacuations in history.

Finally, the Taliban's takeover of Kabul and the end of the US military presence in Afghanistan meant that NATO allies would have had neither the political will nor the military capabilities to maintain a mission in the country. The Taliban had made it clear that they wanted all foreign forces out of Afghanistan, and there was a lack of political support among NATO allies for continuing the mission. Additionally, NATO allies lacked the enablers (air power, intelligence, etc.) required to sustain such a mission without US support.

Afghanistan's status as a major non-NATO ally has been rescinded

The major non-NATO ally (MNNA) status was initially granted to Afghanistan by the Obama administration in 2012, marking a significant step in the two countries' defence and economic relationship. This designation provided Afghanistan with a range of benefits, including military training and assistance, as well as the ability to expedite the sale and leasing of military equipment.

However, with the Taliban's return to power, the US-Afghanistan relationship has changed significantly. The rescinding of Afghanistan's MNNA status means the loss of various privileges, including eligibility for loans of materials and supplies, the ability to serve as a location for US-owned war reserve stockpiles, and the opportunity for private companies to bid on contracts to maintain and repair US military equipment overseas.

The US currently recognises 18 other countries as major non-NATO allies, including Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, and Brazil. These nations enjoy certain benefits in the areas of defence, trade, and security cooperation, although this status does not entail any mutual defence commitments.

The revocation of Afghanistan's MNNA status reflects the shifting dynamics between the two countries and underscores the evolving nature of international alliances and partnerships.

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