Synopses & Reviews
After the swift defeat of the Taliban in 2001, American optimism has steadily evaporated in the face of mounting violence; a new "war of a thousand cuts" has now brought the country to its knees. is a political history of Afghanistan in the "Age of Terror" from 2001 to 2009, exploring the fundamental tragedy of America's longest war since Vietnam. After a brief survey of the great empires in Afghanistan--the campaigns of Alexander the Great, the British in the era of Kipling, and the late Soviet Union--Seth G. Jones examines the central question of our own war: how did an insurgency develop? Following the September 11 attacks, the United States successfully overthrew the Taliban regime. It established security throughout the country--killing, capturing, or scattering most of al Qa'ida's senior operatives--and Afghanistan finally began to emerge from more than two decades of struggle and conflict. But Jones argues that as early as 2001 planning for the Iraq War siphoned off resources and talented personnel, undermining the gains that had been made. After eight years, he says, the United States has managed to push al Qa'ida's headquarters about one hundred miles across the border into Pakistan, the distance from New York to Philadelphia. While observing the tense and often adversarial relationship between NATO allies in the Coalition, Jones--who has distinguished himself at RAND and was recently named by as one of the "Best and Brightest" young policy experts--introduces us to key figures on both sides of the war. Harnessing important new research and integrating thousands of declassified government documents, Jones then analyzes the insurgency from a historical and structural point of view, showing how a rising drug trade, poor security forces, and pervasive corruption undermined the Karzai government, while Americans abandoned a successful strategy, failed to provide the necessary support, and allowed a growing sanctuary for insurgents in Pakistan to catalyze the Taliban resurgence. Examining what has worked thus far--and what has not--this serious and important book underscores the challenges we face in stabilizing the country and explains where we went wrong and what we must do if the United States is to avoid the disastrous fate that has befallen many of the great world powers to enter the region.
Review
"No one understands the successes and failures of American policy in Afghanistan better than Seth Jones....If you read just one book about the Taliban, terrorism, and the United States, this is the place to start." Jeremi Suri, Professor of history, University of Wisconsin
Review
"[D]estined to become the standard text on America's involvement in Afghanistan. It is a timely and important work, without peer in terms of both its scholarship and the author's intimate knowledge of the country, the insurgency threatening it, and the challenges in defeating it." Professor Bruce Hoffman, Georgetown University and author of < i=""> Inside Terrorism <>
Review
"A deeply researched, clearly written, and well-analyzed account of the failures of American policies in Afghanistan, lays out a plan to avoid a potential quagmire. This timely book will be mandatory reading for policymakers from Washington to Kabul but it will also help to inform Americans who want to understand what is likely to be the greatest foreign policy challenge of the Obama administration." Peter Bergen, author of Holy War, Inc. and The Osama bin Laden I Know
Review
"Seth Jones has the answer to the million-dollar question....until Seth Jones, nobody actually sought an empirical answer. Nobody crunched the numbers." John H. Richardson
Review
I've just started reading Seth Jones's book on the war in Afghanistan, In the Graveyard of Empires, which someone told me is going to be the Fiasco of that war. --Thomas E. Ricks, bestselling author of Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq, Foreign Policy
Review
"[Jones] zero[es] in on what went awry after America's successful routing of the Taliban in late 2001. His narrative is fleshed out with information from declassified government documents and interviews with military officers, diplomats and national security experts familiar with events on the ground in Afghanistan." Esquire
Review
"This is a serious work that should be factored in as a new policy as Afghanistan evolves." Michiko Kakutani The New York Times
Review
"Readers keeping up with the wars in the region will want this [book]." Jay Freeman Booklist
Review
History justifies Jones's worries…Jones may have written a blueprint for winning in a region that has historically brought mighty armies to their knees. --Doug Childers
Review
"Gauging whether the US and its allies can succeed in Afghanistan is only part of what Jones's excellent book is about." Library Journal
Review
"A useful and generally lively account of what can go wrong when outsiders venture onto the Afghan landscape. Those ventures have generally not turned out well...This is ominous, because [Jones] knows too much about recent interventions for his pessimism to be disregarded." James Blitz Financial Times
Synopsis
After a brief survey of the great empires in Afghanistan the campaigns of Alexander the Great, the British in the era of Kipling, and the late Soviet Union Seth G. Jones examines the central question of our own war: how did an insurgency develop? Following the September 11 attacks, the United States successfully overthrew the Taliban regime. It established security throughout the country killing, capturing, or scattering most of al Qa ida s senior operatives and Afghanistan finally began to emerge from more than two decades of struggle and conflict. But Jones argues that as early as 2001 planning for the Iraq War siphoned off resources and talented personnel, undermining the gains that had been made. After eight years, he says, the United States has managed to push al Qa ida s headquarters about one hundred miles across the border into Pakistan, the distance from New York to Philadelphia While observing the tense and often adversarial relationship between NATO allies in the Coalition, Jones who has distinguished himself at RAND and was recently named byEsquire as one of the Best and Brightest young policy experts introduces us to key figures on both sides of the war. Harnessing important new research and integrating thousands of declassified government documents, Jones then analyzes the insurgency from a historical and structural point of view, showing how a rising drug trade, poor security forces, and pervasive corruption undermined the Karzai government, while Americans abandoned a successful strategy, failed to provide the necessary support, and allowed a growing sanctuary for insurgents in Pakistan to catalyze the Taliban resurgence. Examining what has worked thus far and what has not this serious and important book underscores the challenges we face in stabilizing the country and explains where we went wrong and what we must do if the United States is to avoid the disastrous fate that has befallen many of the great world powers to enter the region. "
Synopsis
A definitive account of the American experience in Afghanistan from the rise of the Taliban to the depths of the insurgency.
Synopsis
'How we got to where we are in Afghanistan."Matthew Kaminski, Wall Street Journal
Synopsis
This definitive account of the American experience in Afghanistan '[zeroes] in on what went awry after America"s successful routing of the Taliban in late 2001' (Michiko Kakutani, New York Times) to explain how a growing sanctuary for insurgents in Pakistan and a collapsing government in Kabul catalyzed the Taliban resurgence. Examining what has worked thus far'"and what hasn"t'"Jones lays out 'a blueprint for winning in a region that has historically brought mighty armies to their knees' (Doug Childers, Richmond Times-Dispatch).
Synopsis
A definitive account of the American experience in Afghanistan from the rise of the Taliban to the depths of the insurgency.
Synopsis
Praise for "Seth Jones . . . has an anthropologist's feel for a foreign society, a historian's intuition for long-term trends, and a novelist's eye for the telling details that illuminate a much larger story. If you read just one book about the Taliban, terrorism, and the United States, this is the place to start."--Jeremi Suri, author of "A timely and important work, without peer in terms of both its scholarship and the author's intimate knowledge of the country, the insurgency threatening it, and the challenges in defeating it."--Bruce Hoffman, Georgetown University, author of "A deeply researched and well-analyzed account of the failures of American policies in Afghanistan, will be mandatory reading for policymakers from Washington to Kabul."--Peter Bergen, author of and The Osama bin Laden I Know "Seth Jones has combined forceful narrative with careful analysis, illustrating the causes of this deteriorating situation, and recommending sensible, feasible steps to reverse the escalating violence."--James Dobbins, author of
About the Author
Seth G. Jones serves as an adviser and plans officer for the Commanding General, U.S. Special Operations Forces, in Afghanistan. Currently he is a RAND analyst, an adjunct professor at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School and author of In the Graveyard of Empires. He lives outside of Washington, DC, and contributes regularly to the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. Jones was named one of 2008's 'Best and Brightest' young policy experts by Esquire.