Description
Book SynopsisSince 9/11, why have we won smashing battlefield victories only to botch nearly everything that comes next? In the opening phases of war in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya, we mopped the floor with our enemies. But in short order, things went horribly wrong.
We soon discovered we had no coherent plan to manage the day after. The ensuing debacles had truly staggering consequencesmany thousands of lives lost, trillions of dollars squandered, and the apparent discrediting of our foreign policy establishment. This helped set the stage for an extraordinary historical moment in which America''s role in the world, along with our commitment to democracy at home and abroad, have become subject to growing doubt. With the benefit of hindsight, can we discern what went wrong? Why have we had such great difficulty planning for the aftermath of war?
In The Day After, Brendan Gallagheran Army lieutenant colonel with multiple combat tours to Iraq and Afghanistan, and a Princeton Ph.
Trade Review
Brendan Gallagher is well placed to write this policy-focused volume, which blends personal experience and academic reflection based on interviews with decision-makers.
* Choice *
The fruit of a successful Princeton University PhD dissertation, the book uses the lens of prewar planning for postwar conditions to examine four recent limited wars: Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo, and Libya. He discovers dismayingly similar mistakes across the four cases and the Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden-Harris administrations that made them, suggesting that there are systemic issues beyond the idiosyncrasies of individual decision makers and the challenges presented by particular countrie
* US Army War College Quarterly Parameters *
Leaders at all levels have something to gain from The Day After as we enter an increasingly unstable world.
* Proceedings *
Gallagher deserves credit for his thought-provoking argument and use of numerous primary source materials that help to broaden our contextual knowledge and bring to light unique insights from those in office during these conflicts.
* H-War *
The elegance of the tactical-operational-strategic framework for understanding war lies in simplicity. The book's concise and narrowly focused coverage of each of conflicts allows readers to understand the application of the framework.
* Michigan War Studies Review *
Table of ContentsIntroduction: A Troubling Pattern
1. Kosovo: Not Perfect, but Tolerable
2. Afghanistan: A Road to Incoherence
3. Iraq: The Worst of All Worlds
4. Libya: A Slippery Slope
Conclusion: To Learn or Not to Learn
