The American War in Afghanistan | Security Past and Present
Join the Center for Security Studies for a discussion with Carter Malkasian on the past and present of the U.S. in Afghanistan. Dr. Malkasian will discuss his book, The American War in Afghanistan: A History, in which he provides a comprehensive history of the entire conflict. The book moves through the war’s multiple phases and explains why the war had such a disappointing outcome, and why the United States didn’t leave much earlier.
This event is part of CSS’s fall series, Security Past and Present. This series evaluates the conflicts, tensions and resolutions of yesterday that have shaped the challenges of today. Join us as we consider how our past helped create our present, and what we can learn from history to avoid repeating it in the future.
SSP students may attend in person or virtually. SSP alumni and current members of the Georgetown faculty, staff, and student community may attend virtually. The event is not open to other members of the public. Lunch will be provided following the event for students attending in person. For requests for accommodations due to a disability or medical condition, contact sspmediafellow@georgetown.edu no later than Thursday, September 16, 2021. A good faith effort will be made to fulfill all accommodation requests.
About the Speaker
Dr 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 conflict zones, especially Afghanistan and Iraq, and has published several books. The highlight of his work in conflict zones was nearly two years in Garmser district, Helmand province, Afghanistan, as a State Department political officer. His newest book is The American War in Afghanistan: A History. His 2013 book, War Comes to Garmser: Thirty Years of Conflict on the Afghan Frontier (Oxford University Press), won the 2014 silver medal for the Council on Foreign Relations’ Arthur Ross Book Award. Other books include Illusions of Victory: The Anbar Awakening and the Islamic State, A History of Modern Wars of Attrition, and The Korean War, 1950-1953. Dr. Malkasian received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley and completed his doctorate in history at Oxford University. He speaks Pashto.
Lead image: American Seabees work on a combat outpost north of Kandahar, Afghanistan, in 2010. Navy Visual News Service, Photo by Michael Watkins. CC BY 2.0 via Flickr.