Today and tomorrow we will make decisions that will shape the future of our alliance, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said at the start of the conference in the Portuguese capital.
On Saturday, representatives of 48 countries, including 28 NATO members participating in the ISAF mission, the United Nations, the World Bank, the European Union and Japan, and Afghan President Hamid Karzai will discuss the situation in Afghanistan and the gradual transfer of responsibilities to the Afghan forces between 2011 and 2014.
A NATO-Russia summit is scheduled for Saturday afternoon, to be attended also by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
The meetings will end with an EU-USA summit to be attended by U.S. President Barack Obama, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.
Croatia's delegation, led by President Ivo Josipovic, is also in Lisbon. Croatia, which joined NATO in 2009, is attending the alliance's summit for the first time as a full member.