The Alliance is approaching ten years of challenging military operations in 
Afghanistan and has recently been weathering internal, divisive debates over its central strategic mission. The 2009 NATO Summit in Strasbourg-Kehl tasked the Secretary General with preparing a new Strategic Concept for the 
Alliance, deliverable at the November 2010 Lisbon Summit. To support the development of this document, an international Group of Experts chaired by former 
US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was established (and set out its recommendations in May) and an eight month process of conferences and consultations was also set in motion. 

How will the much-anticipated new Strategic Concept respond to an increasingly globalised world with emerging new challenges, manage internal divisions in an enlarged organization of 28 member states and cope with external threats? Will it set out a convincing and coherent vision, representative of its members? The conflict in 
Afghanistan, missile defences and NATO-Russian relations are likely to feature strongly at the Lisbon Summit. This civil society-led Shadow Summit will examine present trends and the attitudes and assumptions underlying the conceptual, organizational and operational debates on the future of NATO. It will explore ways in which civil society groups and parliamentarians can work together more effectively to advance the positive objectives within NATO’s new strategy and ensure that it is implemented in line with shared democratic and humanitarian values.