Understanding the Afghan challenge / Hy Rothstein and John Arquilla -- A familiar Western experience in ancient Afghanistan / Victor Davis Hanson -- Afghan paradoxes / Thomas Barfield -- America's longest war / Hy Rothstein -- A case for withdrawal / Andrew J. Bacevich -- A case for staying the course / Frederick W. Kagan -- Afghanistan : the third way -- Edward N. Luttwak -- Beyond victory and defeat / Scott Sigmund Gartner and Leo Blanken -- The ethics of exit : moral obligation in the Afghan endgame / Russell Muirhead -- Shaping strategic communication / Robert Reilly -- Civil and uncivil society / Jade I. Rodriguez & Rebecca Lorentz -- Conclusion : Assessing the strategic alternatives / John Arquilla and Hy Rothstein
Summary
The United States and its allies have been fighting the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan for a decade in a war that either side could still win. While a gradual drawdown has begun, significant numbers of US combat troops will remain in Afghanistan until at least 2014, perhaps longer, depending on the situation on the ground and the outcome of the US presidential election in 2012. Given the realities of the Taliban's persistence and the desire of US policymakers-and the public-to find a way out, what can and should be the goals of the US and its allies in Afghanistan?. Afghan Endgames brings