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What Have We Learned?: Lessons from Afghanistan & Iraq
In the November/December 2014 issue:
CFR Senior Fellow Max Boot, Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies Director Richard Betts, RAND Senior Political Scientist Rick Brennan, Georgetown Professor Daniel Byman and Brookings Fellow Jeremy Shapiro, and former U.S. Special Envoy to Afghanistan Peter Tomsen debate the lessons of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, writes that the post-Cold War order is unraveling, and it will be missed.
Elizabeth Economy, senior fellow and director for Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, explains why Xi Jinping's recent reforms might not be as transformative as he hopes.
Andrei Shleifer, professor of economics at Harvard, and Daniel Treisman, professor of political science at the University of California, argue that the transition states in Europe and Eurasia have become normal countries - no worse, and sometimes better, than other states at comparable levels of development.
And more.
RUNNING TIME ⇒ 9hrs. and 5mins.
©2014 Foreign Affairs (P)2014 Audible, Inc.
CFR Senior Fellow Max Boot, Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies Director Richard Betts, RAND Senior Political Scientist Rick Brennan, Georgetown Professor Daniel Byman and Brookings Fellow Jeremy Shapiro, and former U.S. Special Envoy to Afghanistan Peter Tomsen debate the lessons of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, writes that the post-Cold War order is unraveling, and it will be missed.
Elizabeth Economy, senior fellow and director for Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, explains why Xi Jinping's recent reforms might not be as transformative as he hopes.
Andrei Shleifer, professor of economics at Harvard, and Daniel Treisman, professor of political science at the University of California, argue that the transition states in Europe and Eurasia have become normal countries - no worse, and sometimes better, than other states at comparable levels of development.
And more.
RUNNING TIME ⇒ 9hrs. and 5mins.
©2014 Foreign Affairs (P)2014 Audible, Inc.
Audible Audio
First published December 29, 2013
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 11, 2023
I find these books very difficult to review, not because they are bad, but because they are good but not for the reasons they were sold.
If you just want to read a book about lessons from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, then this probably isn't the book for you. However, if you're interested in reading a book about a wide variety of the most contentious foreign affairs issues facing the West (mainly America), then this book is fantastic.
In fact, the best essays in this book had nothing to do with Iraq or Afghanistan, such as 'The Strategic Logic of Trade: New Rules of the Road for the Global Market' by Michael Froman, 'Promises to Keep: Crafting Better Development Goals' by Bjørn Lomborg, the eye-opening 'Misrule of the Few: How the Oligarchs Ruined Greece' by Pavlos Eleftheriadis, 'Faulty Powers: Who Started the Ukraine Crisis?' by Michael McFaul, Stephen Sestanovich and John J. Mearsheimer, and 'A Reunified Theory: Should We Welcome the Collapse of North Korea?' by John Delury, Chung-in Moon and Sue Mi Terry.
That said, some of the best essays were related to Iraq and Afghanistan, such as 'Pick Your Battles' by Richard K. Betts and the prescient 'Withdrawal Symptoms: the Bungling of the Iraq Exit' by Rick Brennan.
These essays are thought-provoking and almost universally well-argued. I've had many of my assumptions and prejudices about foreign affairs challenged and reassessed many of my own beliefs, and I'm sure that anyone who reads these essays with an open mind will too.
It is impossible to agree with everything in all of these essays, as many essays present powerful arguments from both sides of extremely contentious issues. However, I'm confident anyone interested in foreign affairs will find the essays thought-provoking, challenging, and interesting. What more can one ask for from a non-fiction book?
If you just want to read a book about lessons from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, then this probably isn't the book for you. However, if you're interested in reading a book about a wide variety of the most contentious foreign affairs issues facing the West (mainly America), then this book is fantastic.
In fact, the best essays in this book had nothing to do with Iraq or Afghanistan, such as 'The Strategic Logic of Trade: New Rules of the Road for the Global Market' by Michael Froman, 'Promises to Keep: Crafting Better Development Goals' by Bjørn Lomborg, the eye-opening 'Misrule of the Few: How the Oligarchs Ruined Greece' by Pavlos Eleftheriadis, 'Faulty Powers: Who Started the Ukraine Crisis?' by Michael McFaul, Stephen Sestanovich and John J. Mearsheimer, and 'A Reunified Theory: Should We Welcome the Collapse of North Korea?' by John Delury, Chung-in Moon and Sue Mi Terry.
That said, some of the best essays were related to Iraq and Afghanistan, such as 'Pick Your Battles' by Richard K. Betts and the prescient 'Withdrawal Symptoms: the Bungling of the Iraq Exit' by Rick Brennan.
These essays are thought-provoking and almost universally well-argued. I've had many of my assumptions and prejudices about foreign affairs challenged and reassessed many of my own beliefs, and I'm sure that anyone who reads these essays with an open mind will too.
It is impossible to agree with everything in all of these essays, as many essays present powerful arguments from both sides of extremely contentious issues. However, I'm confident anyone interested in foreign affairs will find the essays thought-provoking, challenging, and interesting. What more can one ask for from a non-fiction book?
Displaying 1 of 1 review