BUCHAREST 2 - 4 April 2008 NATO heads of state and government gather for enlargement summit. Worried about Afghanistan

Some 9,000 security personnel will be assigned to guard the thousands of participants at this 20th NATO summit. Postings on activist websites suggest promise massive demonstrations against the United States-led Alliance that will keep the security forces busy.

The conflict in Afghanistan, NATO's largest ever operational deployment, is testing the unity of the Alliance and again prompting questions about its future role and borders. The announced focus of the summit -- enlargement -- could move to second place.

The NATO leaders are expected to adopted a vision statement at the summit to redefine the West's goals in the fight against Taliban and strengthen Europe's flagging public support for the 43,000-strong military mission.

If enlargement is given its due, Croatia, Macedonia and Albania could be welcomed into the Alliance at the summit. Georgia is also seeking membership. Bosnia Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia are in line for NATO Partnership for Peace invitations. Enlargement isn't without its risks for the Alliance. It moves NATO closer to Russia's borders, inviting more belligerence from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

NATO has transformed from an alliance focused on the defense of Europe to an expenditionary alliance deployed outside Europe. The 26 NATO allies and 11 partner nations participating in the International Security Assistance Force, which include Australia and Japan, have become mired in Afghanistan. Battles with Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters, drug traffickers, criminals and local warlords are killing Allied troops in numbers that are raising red flags in their home countries. The fighting is also draining resources and seriously hampering reconstruction. This could be the summit where there is a strong challenge to the Riga Global Partnership Initiative and other agreements that have extended NATO's borders and role outside Europe.

Generally, summits are used to introduce new policy, invite new members into the Alliance, launch new initiatives and build partnerships with non-NATO countries. The Afghanistan issue is showing signs of crowding out all of these overall summit aims. There is a rift within the Alliance between nations willing to participate fully in Afghanistan combat operations and those with caveats on their participation. The ISAF needs particular help in the highly dangerous south and east of the country. Germany, Italy, France and Spain -- have restrictions limiting their troops to the relatively peaceful north and west. And some key nations are thinking of pulling out.

In the words of one expert, there is no security in Afghanistan without development, and no development without security.

If the Bucharest proceedings resemble the 2006 NATO summit in Riga, there will be considerable pressure from NATO Secretary General Jaap De Hoop Scheffer and United States President George W. Bush for more troop commitments from the 37 nations participating in the ISAF. They will also press countries that bar or limit the participation of their nationals in Afghanistan combat operations to change their minds. UPDATED Mar/08