This alarming table, displaying the overall total numbers of caveat-fettered and caveat-free forces contributed by NATO’s 8 Lead Nations in the ISAF security and stability mission, during the Afghan mission’s critical years after the 2006 Taliban Resurgence between January 2007-December 2012, 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.