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Carter Malkasian

The American War in Afghanistan: A History Hardcover – July 1, 2021

by Carter Malkasian (Author)

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A New York Times Notable Book
Winner of 2022 Lionel Gelber Prize

The first authoritative history of American'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 ― 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.

Print length

576 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Oxford University Press
Publication date

July 1, 2021
Dimensions

9.4 x 2 x 6.1 inches
ISBN-10

0197550770
ISBN-13

978-0197550779
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From the Publisher

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Malkasian offers a nonpareil history of a war that initially was viewed as one of necessity but increasingly became one of choice. His book sets the standard for all future works that will examine the causes and nature of yet another unhappy American military adventure on the mainland of Asia." -- Dov S. Zakheim, Senior Advisor at CSIS and a Vice Chairman of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, PRISM

"This substantial text is well written and supported by almost 100 pages of notes and references. Offering a rather complete overview of the US failure, this is a must read for anyone interested in the mistakes made in Afghanistan." -- G. M. Farr, CHOICE

"The book allows Afghans to tell their own story, and their voices are present throughout. The author spent significant amounts of time in Afghanistan and communicated with all strata of society, and as a result this book is one of the very few that is truly authoritative on the subject ... it will become a valuable addition to the academic literature on Afghanistan by giving space to Afghans' voice and agency within its rigorous academic research structure." -- Georgi Asatryan and Jack Kalpakian, International Affairs

"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

About the Author

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.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; 1st edition (July 1, 2021)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 576 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0197550770
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0197550779
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.17 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.4 x 2 x 6.1 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #62,414 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #70 in Afghan War Military History
- #381 in Asian History (Books)
- #1,296 in United States History (Books)

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4.5 out of 5

387 global ratings

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4 star		24%
3 star		6%
2 star		2%
1 star		1%

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Rony

Worth your time

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 22, 2022

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I just finished reading this book. It is the best of the three books I have read so far about the American war in Afghanistan. It offers a comprehensive view of the events of war including combat operations, the political process and the how four consecutive U.S. presidents dealt with the longest war in U.S. history. The writer also offers an unbiased critical analysis of major issues that arose during the war that really tries to get to bottom of troubling questions faced by U.S. Administrations trying to put an end to the war. The most notable of these questions is why the Taliban were not defeated despite being outnumbered by Afghan Government forces who were also better equipped. The style is really straight to the point, and "reader-friendly", without so many quotes, that can be confusing to the reader. Particularly interesting is that the author presents events in an easy-to-follow approach with clear explanations of otherwise confusing terminology especially the ones related to combat, making this book suitable for readers of many backgrounds.

The only thing I didn't like about the book is that the author would often refer to dates of events by mentioning the month, but not the year, which prompted me to keep going back to previous pages trying to figure out what year that particular month belonged to. Mentioning the year with the month, even if redundant, would have made it a lot easier to follow the course of events.

Overall, this is a great book that I really enjoyed reading. Since I will continue reading about the war in Afghanistan, this will serve as my go-to book to make sense of how events unfolded, whenever I face any ambiguity in the new books I'm planning to read.

4 people found this helpful

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T. Meyer

Must read if you want to understand our involvement in Afghanistan

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 23, 2022

Verified Purchase

This book is very well written, and an interesting read to understand the United States role in Afghanistan. I like the way the author explains what happened from the perspective of both sides, and missed opportunities for avoiding America's longest war.

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Excellent insider history of our longest war

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 7, 2021

Verified Purchase

Some flaws in writing and typesetting here and there, but otherwise a great and objective account of our long involvement in Afghanistan. The strengths here are extensions of the author’s own expertise and experience. He understands Pashtun, so is able to translate from Taliban biographies, newsletters, histories and even poetry. He is knowledgeable about military tactics and technology, has interviewed all the major players in this war from Karnak to General McChrystal. He was involved in afghan military policy since 2005 and was with the team in Doha that negotiated the peace settlement with the Taliban in 2019-202.

He offers no easy answers or jingoistic presentations of military prowess. Instead, he offers through and sometime minute unflinching narrations of battles and operations fought. He provides a military and political survey of the twenty year long war, stopping at the ends of chapters to reflect and to analyze and successes, military trends and mistakes—that of the US military, Hamid Karzai’s government, the Taliban, Pakistani Intelligence,, etc., etc. He makes plain the costs of bad planning, cultural misunderstandings, political cross-purposes. Nevertheless, he never patronizes or belittles any of the players in this long war, but instead humanizes US Soldiers and their leaders, afghan men and women, Hamid Karzai, four American presidents, the Pakistani government officials, and the Taliban. Highly recommended

Helpful

Doe LeStorr

a good historical perspective

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 4, 2021

Verified Purchase

Mr Malkasian provides a good history and takes note of the decisive points in the 20 year long conflict. His premise, Afghans were more drawn to the Taliban because they represented the local culture better is defendable but I do not agree with it.
I also spent a few years in Afghanistan. I didn’t see as much or understand as much as Mr Malkasian. I am however conflicted by the poor attempts at nation building in Afghanistan. After all, Afghanistan was no worse off than Greece when the Marshall Plan attempted to build a viable government there with mixed results. I would cite the failure to follow through with nation building as a primary reason for American failure there. Nation building is the delivery of government services. Yes, it includes security and policing but must also be expanded to include courts, land title, clean water, electricity, roads and education. Democratic institutions might also be on this list but that is debatable. Afghanistan changed tremendously over the 20 years of American involvement. The biggest change was population growth and urbanization. Why didn’t we choose a strategy to make the Taliban irrelevant to defeat them?

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Vincent DeYoung

Good book. Very informative. Put it on your "must read" list.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 26, 2021

Verified Purchase

Read Carter Malkasian's "The American War in Afghanistan: a history." It is a deeply informed work. Wonderfully written. Dr. Malkasian provides a compelling analysis of the underlying reasons a "victory" there (how do you define a "win"?) was unachievable. I read Malkasian's book amidst the tumult of the Fall of Kabul on Aug. 15th, 2021. Bush started the mess there in 2001. . .and subsequent administrations found it difficult to leave--- for domestic political reasons. Obama made the best of a "bad hand" he got dealt. . .and Trump's ambition of getting out got reversed at the last minute. Nobody wanted to take the fall-out of an American withdrawal. So Joe Biden got handed Trump's unfinished business. Thanks, Trump. Joe Biden drew the unlucky card. Carter Malkasian sketches a very understandable "portrait" of the longest American war. I would put it on your "must read" list. After a trillion dollars spent (at least), and the live lost, maimed or destroyed there. . .the average person should be able to say. . ."okay, I get it now. . ."

11 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

Afghanistan war

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 31, 2022

Verified Purchase

I thought I had a firm grasp of the war in Afghanistan. Reading this book opened my eyes wide as to how little I really understood the war. A new reader needs to understand the first 150 pages of history to get a better understanding of the why things occurred the way they did. This is a book you need to read in a quiet place as it’s a bit complex just like the war. I’ll need to go back and reread the first 150 pages again.

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John S

Clear Eyed Analysis

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 25, 2021

Verified Purchase

A clear and thoughtful history of a war that most Americans would rather forget.

Should be required reading for all of our politicians.

One person found this helpful

Hinrich Lohmann

The American War in Afghanistan: A History

Reviewed in Germany 🇩🇪 on September 16, 2021

Verified Purchase

Aufgrund einer Panne konnte das Buch nicht versandt werden. Ich habe meinen Kaufpreis voll erstattet bekommen. - Bin mit dem Versender voll zufrieden.

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