Description
Book SynopsisThis book describes the conduct of the US-led post-9/11 war in Afghanistan. Adopting a long-term perspective, it argues that even though Washington initially had an opportunity to achieve its security goals and give Afghanistan a chance to enter a new era, it compromised any possibility of success from the very moment it let bin Laden escape to Pakistan in December 2001, and found itself locked in a strategic overreach. Given the bureaucratic and rhetorical momentum triggered by the war on terror in America, the Bush Administration was bound to deploy more resources in Afghanistan sooner or later (despite its focus on Iraq). The need to satisfy unfulfilled counter-terrorism objectives made the US dependent on Afghanistan's warlords, which compromised the country's stability and tarnished its new political system. The extension of the US military presence made Washington lose its leverage on the Pakistan army leaders, who, aware of America's logistical dependency on Islamabad, supported
Trade ReviewThere are no easy answers to the question of why the US-led international engagement in Afghanistan after 2001 achieved such modest results. This book explores two important paths of inquiry: an initial failure by the Bush Administration to conduct a thorough counter-terrorist campaign focused on Al-Qaeda in the early phase, followed in subsequent years by a political and strategic overreach in a region of enormous complexity. -- Astri Suhrke, Chr. Michelsen Institute, Senior researcher
Table of ContentsIntroduction PART I: THE STRUCTURAL WEIGHT OF REALISM: FOREIGN SECURITY INTERESTS AND THE US ENTANGLEMENT IN AFGHANISTAN Chapter 1: US Cold War and Post-Cold War Policy: A Volatile and Security-Driven Interest for the Afghan Pawn Chapter 2: Operation Enduring Freedom: A Campaign in Search for Strategic Coherence? Chapter 3: Pouring the US-Led Coalition’s Resources in a Bottomless Pit: Pakistan’s Predictable Double Game PART II: TOWARDS SELF-SUSTAINING OVERREACH: GRANDIOSE PROJECTS, STRUCTURAL AMBIGUITIES, AND QUESTIONABLE SUSTAINABILITY: Chapter 4: The Promises and Profound Ambiguities of the US-Led Coalition’s Democratization Agenda Chapter 5: The Promises and Profound Ambiguities of the US-Led Reconstruction and State-Building Chapter 6: The Price of Intractable Contradictions: A Seemingly Unending Security Degradation PART III: THE OBAMA ERA: A FINAL SHOWDOWN TO SECURE A “DECENT INTERVAL”? Chapter 7: The Obama Era: New Intentions, Same Old Strategic Horizon Chapter 8: The Surge: Disappointing Results and Unaltered Path to Withdrawal Chapter 9: Afghanistan in 2014: Betrayed Promises? Conclusion
