Losing Afghanistan
eBook - ePub

Losing Afghanistan

An Obituary for the Intervention

  1. 264 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Losing Afghanistan

An Obituary for the Intervention

About this book

The U.S.-led intervention in Afghanistan mobilized troops, funds, and people on an international level not seen since World War II. Hundreds of thousands of individuals and tens of billions of dollars flowed into the country. But what was gained for Afghanistan—or for the international community that footed the bill? Why did development money not lead to more development? Why did a military presence make things more dangerous?

Through the stories of four individuals—an ambassador, a Navy SEAL, a young Afghan businessman, and a wind energy engineer—Noah Coburn weaves a vivid account of the challenges and contradictions of life during the intervention. Looking particularly at the communities around Bagram Airbase, this ethnography considers how Afghans viewed and attempted to use the intervention and how those at the base tried to understand the communities around them. These compelling stories step outside the tired paradigms of 'unruly' Afghan tribes, an effective Taliban resistance, and a corrupt Karzai government to show how the intervention became an entity unto itself, one doomed to collapse under the weight of its own bureaucracy and contradictory intentions.

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Yes, you can access Losing Afghanistan by Noah Coburn in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Sozialwissenschaften & Asiatische Geschichte. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Copyright
  3. Title Page
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. Images
  7. Abbreviations
  8. 1. Surveying the Intervention from Above
  9. 2. Intervening
  10. 3. The Exotic Tribes of the Intervention
  11. 4. Before the Invasion
  12. 5. A New Era?
  13. 6. Contracting the Intervention
  14. 7. Climbing over the Wall
  15. 8. The Merchant–Warlord Alternative
  16. 9. Warlord Density and Its Discontents
  17. 10. How to Host Your Own Shura
  18. 11. The Pieces Left Behind
  19. Acknowledgments
  20. Notes
  21. Bibliography
  22. Index