Awards
- Winner of Winner, 2023 Society for Military History Distinguished Book Awards, American Military History category.
Overview
A New York Times Notable BookWinner of 2022 Lionel Gelber PrizeThe first authoritative history of America's longest war by one of the world's leading scholar-practitioners.The American war in Afghanistan, which began in 2001, is now the longest armed conflict in the nation's history. It is currently winding down, and American troops are likely to leave soon DL but only after a stay of nearly two decades.In The American War in Afghanistan, Carter Malkasian provides the first comprehensive history of the entire conflict. Malkasian is both a leading academic authority on the subject and an experienced practitioner, having spent nearly two years working in the Afghan countryside and going on to serve as the senior advisor to General Joseph Dunford, the US military commander in Afghanistan and later the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. Drawing from a deep well of local knowledge, understanding of Pashto, and review of primary source documents, Malkasian moves through the war's multiple phases: the 2001 invasion and after; the light American footprint during the 2003 Iraq invasion; the resurgence of the Taliban in 2006, the Obama-era surge, and the various resets in strategy and force allocations that occurred from 2011 onward, culminating in the 2018-2020 peace talks. Malkasian lived through much of it, and draws from his own experiences to provide a unique vantage point 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-Qa'eda leader Osama bin Laden was killed and no major attack on the American homeland was carried out after 2001, the United States was unable to end the violence or hand off the war to the Afghan authorities, which could not survive without US military backing. The American War in Afghanistan explains why the war had such a disappointing outcome.Wise and all-encompassing, The American War in Afghanistan provides a truly vivid portrait of the conflict in all of its phases that will remain the authoritative account for years to come.
Full Product Details
Author: Carter Malkasian (Chair of the Defense Analysis Department, Chair of the Defense Analysis Department, Naval Postgraduate School)
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:
Width: 23.30cm
, Height: 3.90cm
, Length: 15.60cm
Weight: 0.794kg
ISBN: 9780197645499
ISBN 10: 0197645496
Pages: 600
Publication Date: 11 May 2023
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: To order
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.
Reviews
Penetrating...estimable...a broad-reaching and quietly authoritative overview of U.S. involvement, from 9/11 onward. [Malkasian] is good on military operations...No less important, he enlightens us on the Afghan part of the story - on the tribal system and its variations; on the forbidding geography, so vital in the fighting; on the Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar and his decision-making; on the complex and ever-shifting relationships between the government of Hamid Karzai and the warlords in the provinces.--Fredrik Logevall, The New York Times Book Review A full an authoritative account of US involvement in Afghanistan...Malkasian combines meticulous scholarship with a practitioner's eye. --Foreign Affairs A sweeping history of the 20-year encounter between Americans and Afghans...Malkasian is drawn to two conflicting, but not irreconcilable, themes: American officials made a series of colossal errors that continually frustrated their own goals, and the Taliban probably would have returned to power even if the foreigners had gotten things right. Perhaps both are true. --Foreign Policy A powerful new book. -- Fareed Zakaria, The Washington Post [A] comprehensive history of the longest armed conflict in US history...Malkasian gives a blow-by-blow of American phases of the war...A sweeping, deeply researched account that will gratify specialists and nonspecialists alike. -- Kirkus, Starred Review A rigorous, blow-by-blow chronicle of the US war in Afghanistan...Synthesizing a vast array of literature from both sides of the conflict, including Oval Office transcripts and Taliban war poetry, Malkasian gets deep into the weeds, but offers a refreshingly nuanced and well-informed perspective. Foreign policy wonks will savor this comprehensive reckoning with America's 'forever war'. -- Publishers Weekly
Penetrating...estimable...a broad-reaching and quietly authoritative overview of U.S. involvement, from 9/11 onward. [Malkasian] is good on military operations...No less important, he enlightens us on the Afghan part of the story - on the tribal system and its variations; on the forbidding geography, so vital in the fighting; on the Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar and his decision-making; on the complex and ever-shifting relationships between the government of Hamid Karzai and the warlords in the provinces.--Fredrik Logevall, The New York Times Book Review A full an authoritative account of US involvement in Afghanistan...Malkasian combines meticulous scholarship with a practitioner's eye. --Foreign Affairs A sweeping history of the 20-year encounter between Americans and Afghans...Malkasian is drawn to two conflicting, but not irreconcilable, themes: American officials made a series of colossal errors that continually frustrated their own goals, and the Taliban probably would have returned to power even if the foreigners had gotten things right. Perhaps both are true. --Foreign Policy A powerful new book. -- Fareed Zakaria, The Washington Post [A] comprehensive history of the longest armed conflict in US history...Malkasian gives a blow-by-blow of American phases of the war...A sweeping, deeply researched account that will gratify specialists and nonspecialists alike. -- Kirkus, Starred Review A rigorous, blow-by-blow chronicle of the US war in Afghanistan...Synthesizing a vast array of literature from both sides of the conflict, including Oval Office transcripts and Taliban war poetry, Malkasian gets deep into the weeds, but offers a refreshingly nuanced and well-informed perspective. Foreign policy wonks will savor this comprehensive reckoning with America's 'forever war'. -- Publishers Weekly
Author Information
Carter Malkasian, Special Assistant for Strategy to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (General Joseph Dunford), from 2015 to 2019. Carter Malkasian was the Special Assistant for Strategy to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 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 nearly two years 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 University Press) 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.
