As world leaders gather in Chicago this weekend for the NATO Summit, one item will dominate the agenda: NATO’s involvement in Afghanistan. Among those in attendance will be President Obama, who will seek commitments of funds and troops from NATO allies to support the precarious transition of military leadership in the country to Afghan national security forces. These negotiations take place in the shadow of one persistent question: Can this war be won? Or is it time to acknowledge that this war cannot be brought to any meaningful conclusion let alone a victorious one? Last month, senior fellows Fouad Ajami and Charlie Hill convened a roundtable of eight thinkers and scholars on this vital question at Hoover’s online symposium on the contemporary dilemmas of the Greater Middle East, The Caravan. For a better understanding of the backdrop of this NATO Summit, continue reading below or here (to jump to the full symposium on the Afghan war).
