This report follows the path of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) evolution in Afghanistan. The first section covers the initial two stages of the International Security Assistance Force's (ISAF) mission, and analyzes key issues in the mission: use of Provincial Reconstruction Teams to stabilize and rebuild the country; overcoming caveats placed by individual allies on the use of their forces; and managing the counter-narcotics effort. The next section of the report examines stages three and four of the ISAF mission which cover roughly the period December 2005 to the present. In this section, the debate to develop a refined mission statement and a new organizational structure is analyzed by looking at issues that are both political and military, such as securing more troops, the treatment of prisoners, and organization of command. By late 2006 as ISAF extended its responsibilities to cover all of Afghanistan, the allies began to realize that ISAF would require a greater combat capability than originally believed, and the mission began to change. This adjustment in mission is discussed through the perspective of several key allies. The final section of the report assesses ISAF's progress to date.