Speaking at the Defence and Security Committee of NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly, the JALLC’s Commander Brigadier General Bogdan Cernat highlighted the crucial role NATO’s Lessons Learned Capability in capturing experience and implementing change to ensure the Alliance remains relevant and adapts to new challenges.

The Parliamentary Assembly is a forum for legislators across Alliance Members to discuss and influence Alliance decision-making and increase transparency. The Assembly is institutionally separate from NATO, but serves as an essential link between NATO and the Parliaments of the NATO Nations. To find out more about the Assembly and their work, click here.

From 08 to 11 October 2021, members of Parliaments from the 30 NATO Member countries met to discuss key issues affecting the security of the Alliance. Two of the key topics were the revision of NATO’s Strategic Concept, and the lessons learned from NATO’s engagement in Afghanistan.

The Assembly worked on policy recommendations addressed to NATO Governments and Parliaments, with a particular focus on ensuring lessons learned are integrated into the upcoming NATO 2030 agenda. The Secretary General, who addressed the Plenary session, reiterated that he had, “…launched a thorough assessment of our engagement in Afghanistan. To learn the lessons. Because by learning we adapt.”

In this spirit, the JALLC’s Commander was invited to speak in the Defence and Security Committee on the topic of “Analysing the past to learn for the future: focus on Afghanistan”. The Commander first explained a bit about the JALLC, its activities, and how it contributes to NATO’s Lessons Learned Capability. He then went on to demonstrate how the JALLC has contributed to Alliance learning and transformation through its analysis and lessons learned activities throughout the period of NATO’s engagement in Afghanistan; a period that spans nearly 20 years, almost as long as the JALLC has existed.

The resolution of the Defence and Security Committee’s session reflects their understanding of the importance of learning lessons for the Alliance and can be downloaded here: resolution 468, “Learning the lessons of NATO’s engagement in Afghanistan”. 

The text of the resolution welcomes Allies’ commitment to learn the lessons from their engagement in Afghanistan, and the Assembly’s determination to play an active role in the assessment of NATO’s engagement in the region.

As can be seen on the NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s website, the resolution was approved by the Committee and voted in the Plenary the following day, urging NATO Governments and Parliaments to, “… conduct a thorough, clear-eyed, and comprehensive assessment” of the Alliance’s 20 year engagement in Afghanistan. Furthermore, the Alliance was urged to, “…incorporate lessons learned into NATO’s new Strategic Concept and the broader NATO 2030 agenda”, which leaders are set to adopt in Madrid next summer. Lastly, lessons learned are to be, “…integrated into the reflection process in order to adapt the Alliance’s counterterrorism approach to new strategic circumstances, engaging regional and international partners to ensure Afghanistan never again serves as a safe haven for international terrorist organisations”.

This resolution reflects a growing consciousness within the broader reaches of the Alliance of the importance of Lessons Learned to ensure the Alliance remains ready to overcome any challenge it may face.