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Potomac Books
August 2008
On Sale: July 30, 2008
179 pages ISBN: 1597970832 EAN: 9781597970839 Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
In October 2001, the Bush administration sent Amb. James F.
Dobbins, who had overseen nation-building efforts in
Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, and Kosovo, to war-torn Afghanistan
to help the Afghans assemble a successor government to the
Taliban. From warlords to exiled royalty, from turbaned
tribal chieftains to elegant émigré intellectuals,
Ambassador Dobbins introduces a range of colorful Afghan
figures competing for dominance in the new Afghanistan. His
firsthand account of the post-9/11 American diplomacy also
reveals how collaboration within Bush's war cabinet began to
break down almost as soon major combat in Afghanistan
ceased. His insider's memoir recounts how the administration
reluctantly adjusted to its new role as nation-builder,
refused to allow American soldiers to conduct peacekeeping
operations, opposed dispatching international troops, and
shortchanged Afghan reconstruction as its attention shifted
to Iraq. In After the Taliban, Dobbins probes the
relationship between the Afghan and Iraqi ventures. He
demonstrates how each damaged the other, with deceptively
easy success in Afghanistan breeding overconfidence and then
the latter draining essential resources away from the
initial effort. Written by America's most experienced
diplomatic troubleshooter, this important new book is for
readers looking for insights into how government really
works, how diplomacy is actually conducted, and most
important why the United States has failed to stabilize
either Afghanistan or Iraq.
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