Understanding the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan / edited by Beth Bailey and Richard H. Immerman.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction / Beth Bailey and Richard H. Immerman -- Part I. The wars and their origins -- The wars' entangled roots : regional realities and Washington's vision / Michael A. Reynolds -- 9/11 : Bush's response / Terry H. Anderson -- Part II. The possibilities and limits of American military and diplomatic strategy -- Intelligence and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan / Richard H. Immerman -- Assessing strategic choices in the War on Terror / Stephen Biddle and Peter D. Feaver -- Military strategy in Afghanistan and Iraq : learning and adapting under fire at home and in the field / Conrad Crane -- Human rights as a weapon of war / Jonathan Horowitz -- Part III. Waging and the wages of war -- The combatants' experiences / Lisa Mundey -- Fighting (against) the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan / David Farber -- Limited war in the age of total media / Sam Lebovic -- "Watching war made us immune" : the popular culture of the wars / Andrew C. McKevitt -- Part IV. Lessons and legacies -- Veterans' readjustment after the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars / David Kieran -- The lessons and legacies of the War in Iraq / Robert K. Brigham -- The lessons and legacies of the War in Afghanistan / Aaron B. O'Connell.

Print version record.

Understanding the United States' wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is essential to understanding the United States in the first decade of the new millennium and beyond. These wars were pivotal to American foreign policy and international relations. They were expensive: in lives, in treasure, and in reputation. They raised critical ethical and legal questions; they provoked debates over policy, strategy, and war-planning; they helped to shape American domestic politics. And they highlighted a profound division among the American people: While more than two million Americans served in Iraq and Afghanistan, many in multiple deployments, the vast majority of Americans and their families remained untouched by and frequently barely aware of the wars conducted in their name, far from American shores, in regions about which they know little. Understanding the U.S. Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan gives us the first book-length expert historical analysis of these wars. It shows us how they began, what they teach us about the limits of the American military and diplomacy, and who fought them. It examines the lessons and legacies of wars whose outcomes may not be clear for decades. In 1945 few Americans could imagine that the country would be locked in a Cold War with the Soviet Union for decades; fewer could imagine how history would paint the era. Understanding the U.S. Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan begins to come to grips with the period when America became enmeshed in a succession of "low intensity" conflicts in the Middle East. Instructor's Guide.

"Understanding the United States' wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is essential to understanding the United States in the first decade of the new millennium and beyond. These wars were pivotal to American foreign policy and international relations. They raised critical ethical and legal questions; they provoked debates over policy, strategy, and war planning; they helped to shape American domestic politics. And they highlighted a profound division among the American people: While more than two million Americans served in Iraq and Afghanistan, the vast majority of American and their families remained untouched by and frequently barely aware of the wars conducted in their name, far from American shores, in regions about which they knew little. Understanding the U.S. Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan gives us the first book-length, expert historical analysis of these wars. It examines the lessons and legacies of wars whose outcomes may not be clear for decades"--Back cover.

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