How to Lose a War
The Story of America’s Intervention in Afghanistan
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Yale University Press
Published:11th Jun '24
Should be back in stock very soon
An incisive, authoritative account of the West’s failures in Afghanistan, from 9/11 to the fall of Kabul
In 1958, Richard Nixon described Afghanistan as “unconquerable.” On 15 August 2021, he was proven right. After twenty years of intervention, US and NATO forces retreated, enabling the Taliban to return to power. Tens of thousands were killed in the long, unwinnable war, and millions more were displaced—leaving the future of Afghanistan hanging in the balance.
Leading expert Amin Saikal traces the full story of America’s intervention, from 9/11 to the present crisis. After an initial swift military strike, the US became embroiled in a drawn-out struggle to change Afghanistan but failed to achieve its aims. Saikal shows how this failure was underlined by protracted attempts to capture Osama bin Laden, an inability to secure a viable government via “democracy promotion” efforts, and lack of wider strategy in the “war on terror.”
How to Lose a War offers an insightful account of one of the US’s most significant foreign policy failures—and considers its dire consequences for the people of Afghanistan.
“Complex, unique, enlightening. . . . Saikal’s book is channeling the reformist, pluralistic and democratic governmental and societal elements who wanted to serve their country . . . but found themselves on the fringes, frustrated about the direction Afghanistan is taking but void of resources and opportunities to make corrective differences.”—Cipher Brief
“Amin Saikal provides a detailed and authoritative analysis of how, after 20 years of occupation, the West withdrew in disarray.”—JS, History of War
“A compelling and meticulously documented analysis, with much new eyewitness material, of the abject policy and governance failures of successive US administrations and their Afghan leadership proteges. One of the most depressing chapters of modern world history, and Saikal clearly articulates the lessons to be learned from it.”—Gareth Evans, former Australian Foreign Minister and president emeritus of the International Crisis Group
“Amin Saikal is a leading scholar of international relations and the Middle East. He has provided a great public service by turning scholarly attention to his country of origin. This insightful and tragic account of failed U.S. intervention in Afghanistan is essential reading, especially for Western policy makers seeking to reshape far away lands in their own image.”—Atul Kohli, David Bruce Professor of International Relations, Princeton University
“Saikal offers us a credible and accessible perspective on how the outsiders’ failure of imagination, coupled with the incompetence and corruption of the Afghan political elite, brought us to where we stand today. The lessons Saikal draws are as insightful as they are intriguing, worth everyone’s attention.”—Hassan Abbas, author of The Return of the Taliban: Afghanistan after the Americans Left
“An excellent analysis of the failures of US policy in Afghanistan. It incisively explains how America’s ambitions exceeded its grasp and, despite lofty ideals, became embroiled in frictions that it poorly understood and tragically compounded.”—James Piscatori, coauthor of Muslim Politics
“Relying on well-placed insider sources, Amin Saikal offers a rigorous and gripping narrative of why the U.S. lost the war in Afghanistan. The book delves deep into the complex reasons for the U.S. policy failure and provides a sobering assessment of the lessons learned.”—Anne Likuski, author of Al-Qaida in Afghanistan
ISBN: 9780300266245
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
320 pages