[Book Launch] How to Lose a War: The Story of America’s Intervention in Afghanistan

The US’s failed intervention in Afghanistan

The question of what caused America’s Afghanistan debacle or, in other words, where the US, backed by NATO and non-NATO allies, went wrong, has been widely debated from varying perspectives. However, there has not been an insightful and coherent expose of what led the US to move from its initial ‘light footprint’ approach to a ‘heavy footprint’ one, which trapped the US in the complex task of state-building in a country that traditionally lacked the necessary foundations for statehood. The move marked a turning point in entangling the US in a long and unwinnable war and therefore ultimate defeat.

Drawing on his book How to Lose a War, Prof Saikal will address critically the key factors that contributed to the US failures and narrate the important lessons learned from America’s Afghanistan experience.