In the Graveyard of Empires, Seth G. Jones
In the Graveyard of Empires, Seth G. Jones
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In the Graveyard of Empires
America's War in Afghanistan

Author: Seth G. Jones

Narrator: William Hughes

Unabridged: 13 hr 9 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/16/2010


Synopsis

This definitive account of the American experience in Afghanistan is a political history of Afghanistan in the Age of Terror from 2001 to 2009, exploring the fundamental tragedy of Americas longest war since Vietnam. 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 brought the country to its knees. After a brief survey of the great empires in Afghanistan, Seth G. Jones examines the central question of our own war: how did an insurgency develop? Following September 11, the United States successfully overthrew the Taliban regime. It established security throughout the country, and Afghanistan finally began to emerge from more than two decades of 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, the United States had pushed alQaedas headquarters about one hundred miles across the border into Pakistan. While observing the tense, often adversarial relationship between NATO allies in the Coalition, Jones introduces us to key figures on both sides of the war. Using important new research and integrating thousands of declassified government documents, Jones 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 farand what has notthis serious and important book underscores the challenges we face in stabilizing the country and explains where we went wrong and what we must do to avoid the disastrous fate that has befallen many of the great world powers to enter the region.

About Seth G. Jones

Seth G. Jones is the Harold Brown Chair and Director of the Transnational Threats Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), as well as the author of A Covert Action, In the Graveyard of Empires, and Hunting in the Shadows. He lives outside of Washington, DC.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Will on July 21, 2021

Seth G. Jones - image from the National Museum for the United States Air Force Seth G. Jones is currently a Fellow and Director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and was a “senior political scientist” at the RAND corporation (as in Research AND Development, not that other......more

Goodreads review by Brett on May 15, 2021

This book explores the historical invasions of the Greeks, the Mongolian hordes, the British, the Soviets, and now the United States. Afghanistan has a long and tumultuous history with one specific note: it has never been conquered. This book does a pretty good job of explaining why that is such. A......more

Goodreads review by Andrew on October 22, 2010

The grim title and the KOd Soviet tank on the cover are misleading cliches to begin with. I imagine that the publisher went with the title/cover so Jones' work might find a place in the political nonfiction genre. But Jones is a Rand scholar, and he writes like one. The work is technical, heavily fo......more

Goodreads review by Jason on March 29, 2025

Although dry, the author was quite thorough and exhaustive in explaining the political, social, economic, historical, and other reasons for the initiation and success of the insurgency against US and coalition forces in Afghanistan after September 11th. He explains that while US leaders took lessons......more

Goodreads review by Emmet on March 03, 2024

Definitely an academic treatment of the subject, relying heavily on data and historical comparisons. But that’s actually a refreshing way to read about this topic. It’s politically agnostic and doesn’t caste any sort of normative or moral judgments on any of the contentious issues discussed. But it’......more