Full Description
Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan: Taken together, these three conflicts have not only defined American military history over more than half a century, but have also inescapably shaped the culture and politics of the United States-as well as the nations in which they have been fought. This volume brings together international experts on American history and foreign affairs to assess the cumulative impact of the United States' often halting and conflicted attempts to end wars. It offers essential perspectives on both the Cold War and post-9/11 eras and demonstrates just how high the stakes are as the US confronts the real possibility of war without end.
Contents
Introduction
PART I: BACKGROUND
Chapter 1. How to Think About Ending Wars
Gideon Rose
PART II: VIETNAM
Chapter 2. The Importance of Being Popular: Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger, and Domestic Support for the Vietnam War
Sarah Thelen
Chapter 3. The Things They Carry: Vietnam and the Legacies of the American War
Edwin A. Martini
Chapter 4. "His Epitaph Is Also Ours:" Robert McNamara, The Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, and the Vietnam War's Contested Usable Past
David Kieran
Chapter 5. After the Fall of Saigon: Strategic Implications of America's Involvement in Vietnam
Robert K. Brigham
PART III: IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN
Chapter 6. The Ironies of Overwhelming "Victory": Exits and the Dislocation of the Gulf War
David Ryan
Chapter 7. Failing to End: Obama and Iraq
David Fitzgerald and David Ryan
Chapter 8. A "Responsible End" to the Afghan War: The Politics and Pitfalls of Crafting "Success" Narratives
Jeffrey H. Michaels
Chapter 9. Flawed Afghanisation: Underestimating and Misunderstanding the Taliban
Antonio Giustozzi
PART IV: THE CULTURAL AND STRATEGIC COSTS OF WAR IN THE EARLY 21ST CENTURY
Chapter 10. Changing the Subject: How the United States Responds to Strategic Failure
Andrew J. Bacevich
Chapter 11. How Wars Do Not End: The Challenges for 21st-Century US Foreign Policy and Intervention
Scott Lucas
Chapter 12. Coming Home: Soldier Homecomings and the All-Volunteer Force in American Society and Culture
David Fitzgerald
Chapter 13. How the United States Ends Wars
Marilyn B. Young
Index
