| ID | 193063 |
| Title Proper | NATO’s struggle for intelligence in Afghanistan |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Rietjens, Sebastiaan |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | What role did North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the coalition (International Security Assistance Force—ISAF) it led play in the failure of the West in Afghanistan? This essay argues that the ISAF intelligence community’s inability to come to grips with the complex operational environment in Afghanistan contributed to the problem. Using three concepts from the complexity literature, requisite variety, learning, and enactment, I analyze critical flaws in NATO’s approach. ISAF’s weak cross-cultural competence, its inconsistent relationships with international civilian organizations, and its absence of double- and triple-loop learning are identified as key drivers of NATO’s weak intelligence performance. |
| `In' analytical Note | Armed Forces and Society Vol. 49, No.4; Oct 2023: p.1001–1012 |
| Journal Source | Armed Forces and Society Vol: 49 No 4 |
| Key Words | Military Intelligence ; Afghanistan ; Learning ; Complexity ; Understanding ; International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) |