Operations: old and new

This issue of NATO Review, entitled Operations: old and new, is focused on NATO's growing operational commitments and activities in the wake of the Alliance's response to both Hurricane Katrina and the South Asian earthquake and on the eve of the expansion of NATO's Afghan operation.

In the first of four articles devoted to the issue's central theme, James Pardew, director of operations in NATO's Operations Division, and Christopher Bennett, editor of NATO Review, examine how NATO's focus has shifted towards operations. Mihai Carp of NATO's Operations Division assesses the challenges of and prospects for NATO's Afghanistan operation. Gabriele Cascone and Joaquin Molina of NATO's Political Affairs and Security Policy and Operations Divisions respectively analyse the coming year's prospects for the Western Balkans. And Maurits Jochems, also of NATO's Operations Division, examines NATO's role in disaster relief.