A list of known national caveats within the ISAF Allied Force, arranged according to the 21 caveat categories found to be in existence and active during the ISAF mission from 2001-2014. Namely: Mission caveats; Theatre of Operations caveats; Geographic caveats; Regional caveats; Area of Operations (AO) caveats; Force Numbers-in-Theatre caveats; Command caveats; Weaponry & Lethal Force caveats; General Operations caveats; Ground Combat Operations caveats; Ground Security Operations caveats; Air Combat Operations caveats; Other Air Operations caveats; Time caveats; Weather caveats; Counter-Terrorism caveats; Counter-Narcotics caveats; ISAF Cooperation caveats; ANSF Cooperation caveats; PRT Security Operations caveats; and PRT Stability Operations caveats. The list was created based on the caveat information I gathered and compiled during the course of my doctoral research.
This PhD research in the academic domain of Defence & Strategic Studies, and undertaken over a period of 7 years from 2008-2014, was the first, in-depth, academic examination of the issue of ‘national caveats’ and their effects within multinational security operations. The research focused on the multinational NATO-led ISAF campaign in Afghanistan, and examined and analysed the extent and tangible impact of ISAF national caveats on ‘unity of effort’ and ‘operational effectiveness’ within the ISAF COIN mission, over the period of ten years from 2002-2012.