NATO deputy: Focus is on Afghanistan

Though the instability in Iraq has monopolized worldwide attention, NATO's ongoing operations in Kosovo and Afghanistan require continued international support, Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry said in a lecture yesterday.

In his talk, "NATO: Afghanistan, Kosovo, and the Alliance's Future," Eikenberry — the deputy chairman of the NATO Military Committee and former commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan — emphasized the continued need for NATO presence in the two countries.

Two of NATO's "key tasks" are providing military advice and supplemental force in Afghanistan and Kosovo, Eikenberry said.

"Afghanistan is the top priority within NATO," Eikenberry said to a packed house of students, faculty and community members. "There is no operation that is as big in terms of scope and complexity other than Afghanistan." Currently, he said, NATO has more than 44,000 troops on the ground in Afghanistan, supplementing forces from 38 other nations.

Despite the commitment of resources, progress in the country may be stagnating, Eikenberry warned. Though NATO has done a better job lately of placing military personnel in the country's different provinces, "the trends are not in the right direction right now," he said. "We aren't losing, but we aren't winning either."

The Taliban continues to actively threaten NATO forces, and its violent actions are "fueled by a militant interpretation of Islam," Eikenberry said. The organization "does pose a threat in eastern and southern Afghanistan to our own forces," he said.

Eikenberry also made the case for a continued NATO presence in Kosovo, describing it as the organization's "number-two operation, politically and militarily." Specifically, he said, NATO must strive to quell tensions among the various ethnic groups in the country.

In addition to addressing NATO's two major operations, Eikenberry also described the broader issues the organization faces. For example, though some have criticized NATO's acquisition of nuclear materials, Eikenberry argued that the organization is "prudent to maintain that capability given the uncertainty in the world today."

Ryan Fuh '11, who attended the lecture, said he appreciated the first-person angle Eikenberry brought to his discussion of world affairs. The talk "provided really interesting insight from a person who has controlled these operations firsthand," he said.

Eikenberry, who assumed his current position at NATO in 2007, previously spent two years as commander of combined forces in Afghanistan.

At the beginning of the lecture, Eikenberry was introduced by Wilson School professor Wolfgang Danspeckgruber, who directs the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, which cosponsored the event along with the Wilson School.