I. Jones & Kenneth A. Loparo 
Meeting the Language Challenges of NATO Operations 
Policy, Practice and Professionalization

After 40 years of Cold War, NATO found itself intervening in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and Afghanistan, where the ability to communicate with local people was essential to the success of the missions. This book explains how the Alliance responded to this challenge so as to ensure that the missions did not fail through lack of understanding.

Table of Content

Introduction: Translation and Interpretation as the Focus of Language Policy 1. NATO Linguistic Services 1949-1994 2. English as the Working Language 3. Bosnia-Herzegovina – Identifying the Problems 4. Bosnia-Herzegovina – Implementing Solutions 5. Kosovo – Following a Pattern 6. Kosovo – Implementing Solutions 7. Afghanistan 2003 8. Afghanistan 2006 9. Afghanistan from 2008 10. NATO Doctrine 11. Conclusions

About the author

Ian P. Jones joined NATO as a linguist in 1976. He served as Head of the Linguistic Service at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) from 1989 to 2011 and was responsible for coordinating the Linguistic Services in the Alliance’s permanent and peace support operation headquarters.Louise Askew has worked as a linguist for the US Government, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and was Chief of the Linguistic Service at the NATO HQ in Sarajevo from 2000 to 2004. In June 2011, she received a Ph D on the language policy of international organizations in post-Dayton Bosnia-Herzegovina. She now works as an interpreter for the International Committee of the Red Cross.