NATO Summit 2012

Leaders from around the world gathered in Chicago on May 20-21, 2012, for the NATO  summit, hosted by President Barack Obama.  This was the first time ever that a NATO summit was held in the United States outside of the nation's capital, Washington.

As NATO countries and those providing transit facilities to supplies for coalition forces in Afghanistan charted the post-2014 course in Chicago, they acknowledged that lasting peace in the strife-torn country would not be possible without the positive engagement of Pakistan.
The summit declaration at the Chicago Conference said: “The countries in the region, particularly Pakistan, have important roles in ensuring enduring peace, stability and security in Afghanistan and in facilitating the completion of the transition process.”

The summit declaration itself reflected the continuing deadlock between NATO and Pakistan over the reopening of the Ground Lines of Communication (GLOC/NATO supply lines).

The failure to arrive at an agreement on the conditions for the transit facility—particularly the cost of moving the shipment from Karachi to Afghanistan through Pakistan—spawned reports in the American media that U.S. President Barack Obama had refused to meet his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari for a bilateral engagement at Chicago.

The NATO countries also reiterated their resolve to remain engaged with Afghanistan after 2014 when the country enters what Mr. Karzai described as the transformational decade. Stating that NATO would continue to provide strong and long-term political and practical support through “our Enduring Partnership with Afghanistan”, the declaration articulates member countries’ willingness to work toward establishing “at the request” of Afghanistan a new “post-2014 mission of a different nature” to train, advise and assist the Afghan National Security Forces, including the Afghan Special Operations Forces.