The Heads of State and Government of the 28 NATO member countries will meet in Chicago on 20 and 21 May 2012. This will be the first NATO summit since November 2010 in Lisbon and the first on American soil since 1999 in Washington. In contrast to those conferences, this time no new strategic concept or similar pathfinding decisions are expected. Instead, the interim status of the present course is to be examined and announced at this implementation summit – for example, with a view toward the withdrawal from Afghanistan or setting up a missile defense shield.