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Download The leaders of NATO's 28 member nations wrapped up their two-day summit on Monday with a set of measures and steps that brought to light the military bloc's deepening dilemma. The so-called Smart Defense approach adopted by the alliance and the network of partnerships it is seeking to build around the world, coupled with a detailed exit from Afghanistan, all point to a declining and less capable NATO. Capability building, partnership and Afghanistan dominated the Chicago summit, the biggest of its kind in history. The Smart Defense notion was first broached by NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen in February 2011 in response to the financial constraints facing the transatlantic community and the yawning gap in defense capabilities between Washington and its European allies as a result of reduced European spending on defense for years. The approach calls for pooling resources and capabilities of the member states to maintain and develop capabilities needed to confront the complex challenges of the 21st century, as stated in the strategic concept adopted in Lisbon in November 2010, when NATO leaders last met. The Chicago summit saw a number of multinational projects unveiled, including a declared interim ballistic missile defense capability as an initial step to establish NATO's missile defense system, the deployment of a highly sophisticated Alliance Ground Surveillance system and the extension of the air policing mission in the Baltic states. | 
