| Publication |
2012.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Afghanistan policy debates in NATO capitals these days are about transition. Specifically, by 2014, the NATO-run International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operation is to end, according to a schedule first proposed by President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and later reaffirmed by outside powers at NATO's Lisbon Summit in 2010. By that point, Afghans will have primary security responsibility for all parts of their country - a goal that they will technically reach in 2013, according to the latest plans - and nearly all ISAF troops will be able to depart. The May 2012 strategic partnership agreement between the United States and Afghanistan, reinforced by several other such bilateral accords, will guide relations thereafter; the July 2012 Tokyo donors' conference has added further detail to plans. With these pieces in place, Western policy debates tend to dwell on how fast to bring troops home between now and the end of 2014.
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