NATO “playing not to lose” in Afghanistan

Eric Farnsworth, the Vice President of the Council of the Americas, led a discussion on NATO’s evolving role in Afghanistan at The Woodrow Wilson Center. Farnsworth said that NATO’s mission in Afghanistan is of great importance and failure to stabilize the country would not only undermine the credibility of the NATO alliance, but would also threaten international security by allowing Afghanistan to emerge as a safe haven for terrorist organizations and the narcotics trade. Farnsworth also said that Canada has been a major contributor to NATO’s effort, particularly securing the “war-torn” southern region of Afghanistan.

Pamela Wallin, a member of the Independent Panel on Canada’s Future Role in Afghanistan and the Senior Advisor of the Council of the Americas, explained that Canada has a long-standing tradition of peacekeeping efforts and concern for world affairs. She said that Canada went into Afghanistan as a country right after the 9-11 attacks took place, and have been there ever since. The Canadian government has released its next response when dealing with Afghanistan which keeps their troops in the country until 2011. Wallin said that this new plan has a focused approach on dealing with the problems in Afghanistan, one with benchmarks to “judge what victory looks like.”

Joel Sokolsky, the Dean of Arts and Professor of Political Science at the Royal Military College of Canada, said that there is a major change in how Canada is now perceived within NATO. Sokolsky explained that Canada was always known as a peace keeping nation and cut back their defense spending during the 1990s. The perception of Canada as a “laggard” has been changed with a shift in focus and a raised structure of armed forces.

Thomas Lynch, a Colonel of the U.S. Army and a Federal Executive Fellow at the Brookings Institution, explained that Canada needs to “play not to lose” in Afghanistan. He said that NATO is a big influence on the country and needs to focus on helping Afghanistan move forward. Lynch also said that NATO needs to strengthen its commitment to Afghanistan and not move out like the Americans did.