The American War in Afghanistan: A History

Synopsis

A New York Times Notable Book for 2021. The American war in Afghanistan, which began in 2001, is now the longest armed conflict in the nation's history. In this book, Carter Malkasian provides the first comprehensive history of the entire conflict up to the signing of the US-Taliban peace agreement in February 2020. Both a leading scholarly authority and an experienced, on-the-ground practitioner fluent in Pashto, Malkasian spent nearly two years working in the Afghan countryside prior to becoming the senior advisor to first the top US military commander in Afghanistan and later the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Drawing from a deep well of local knowledge and a rich array of primary sources, Malkasian moves through the war's multiple phases: the 2001 invasion and after; the resurgence of the Taliban in 2006; the Obama-era surge; and the various resets in strategy that occurred from 2011 onward, culminating in the 2018-2020 peace talks. Malkasian lived through most of it and draws from his own experiences to provide a truly unique perspective on the war. Today, the Taliban is the most powerful faction, and sees victory as probable. The ultimate outcome after America leaves is inherently unpredictable given the multitude of actors there, but one thing is sure: the war did not go as America had hoped. Although the al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed and no major attack on the American homeland occurred after 2001, the United States was unable to end the violence or hand over the war to the Afghan authorities, which could not survive without US military backing. This book explains why the war had such a disappointing outcome. A wise and all-encompassing portrait of the conflict through all of its phases, The American War in Afghanistan will remain the authoritative account for years to come. CARTER MALKASIAN was the Special Assistant for Strategy to Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Joseph Dunford from 2015 to 2019. He has extensive experience working in Afghanistan through multiple deployments throughout the country. The highlight of his work is the nearly two years he spent in Garmser district, Helmand province, Afghanistan, as a State Department political officer and the district stabilization team leader. He is the author of War Comes to Garmser: Thirty Years of Conflict on the Afghan Frontier (Oxford) and Illusions of Victory: The Anbar Awakening and the Rise of the Islamic State (Oxford). He has a doctorate in history from Oxford and is fluent in Pashto.

Copyright:

2021

Book Details

Book Quality:

Excellent

Book Size:

561 Pages

ISBN-13:

9780197550779

Publisher:

Oxford University Press, Incorporated

Date of Addition:

01/09/22

Copyrighted By:

Oxford University Press

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

History, Military, Nonfiction, Politics and Government

Submitted By:

Terry Gorman

Proofread By:

Terry Gorman

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.