The 28 -member nations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are meeting in Lisbon today to discuss updating the alliance's mission and the future of its military effort in Afghanistan. At the two-day meeting, NATO is expected to put new emphasis on gradually handing control of Afghanistan's security to the Afghan people.As NATO members such as Canada and the Netherlands end their combat roles in Afghanistan, the allies still taking part in the fighting are changing their missions.One of U.S. President Barack Obama's top advisors on Afghanistan, Douglas Lute, said this week that the alliance will announce a longer-term transition that will eventually put Afghans in charge of their country's security.This process across the 34 provinces will aim to be completed by the end of 2014. The process begins in early 2011 with the target of completion at the end of 2014, said Lute.The new plan will call for NATO forces to continue training and humanitarian work in Afghanistan beyond 2014.Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai will attend Saturday's meeting on the alliance's mission in his country. In a recent interview with The Washington Post newspaper, Mr. Karzai demanded that NATO reduce its military operations in Afghanistan and end the successful joint night raids with Afghan troops against Taliban forces.At its Lisbon Summit, NATO is also expected to unveil a new strategic concept to address global security concerns that have drastically shifted since the alliance last revised its mission 11 years ago.The new focus of the 28-member Western military alliance was drafted by a group of experts led by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.A former U.S. Ambassador to NATO, Robert Hunter says the evolution of security challenges over the last decade from territorial disputes to global terrorism, cross-border crime and cyber threats has shaped the new focus of the organization.