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On April 3 and 4, 2009, the heads of state and government of the 26 members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will meet in Strasbourg, France, and Kehl, Germany for a summit marking the 60th anniversary of the alliance. The summit will be one of three stops on President Obama's first official visit to Europe as President. Alliance leaders are expected to use the anniversary summit to pay tribute to NATO's past achievements and to reaffirm their commitment to the alliance as the preeminent transatlantic security framework. They will also complete a new round of NATO enlargement, seek common positions on the range of challenges currently facing the alliance, and begin to set the parameters for NATO's future direction. The key issue facing the alliance is the ongoing mission in Afghanistan, where allied governments are struggling to reach a strategic consensus on how to stabilize the country. The deteriorating security situation in the country has caused many to question the ability of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to achieve its objectives and has exposed rifts within the alliance as to ISAF's mission and the appropriate means to accomplish it. NATO's strained relations with Russia are a second...