Endless War features controversial strategist Ralph Peters at his most provocative and popular, raising perceptive, often shocking questions others fear to ask. In a sweeping collection that ranges from Muslim military triumphs a thousand years ago through the turning of the tide between East and West to the brutal unconventional struggles of today and tomorrow, former Military Intelligence officer Peters extends his successful series of books on strategy and security affairs that have won him diehard fans for his insight, firsthand experience, and frankness. Endless War engages the toughest security issues of our time, including: Does our Afghan war make sense? Can we win? Do we even have a strategy? ; Has flawed military planning left our troops as virtual hostages in combat zones? ; Can Israel survive? What would an Iranian nuclear arsenal mean for the world? ; Is Islam a "religion of peace," or has the war between Islam and Western civilization continued virtually without interruption for almost fourteen centuries? ; Why doesn't the greatest superpower in history win more often? Are we our own worst enemies? ; Have we lost our sense of warfare's reality? Why don't we fight to win? ; Do terrorist prisoners really deserve better treatment than American citizens? ; What's the true price of striking serious history courses from our schools? ; Who does deeper damage to the United States, our violent enemies or arrogant ruling elite? In powerful prose combining clarity with passion, Ralph Peters continues to shape our country's military and strategic thought, while standing up for our troops and American values. No book on strategy or foreign affairs this year will be fiercer or more brutally honest. As ever more dark clouds gather over the world, this is a voice we need!--Publisher description.

Going beyond the stereotypes of Kalashnikov-wielding Afghan mujahideen and black-turbaned Taliban fundamentalists, Larry Goodson explains in this concise analysis of the Afghan war what has really been happening in Afghanistan in the last twenty years. Beginning with the reasons behind Afghanistan’s inability to forge a strong state -- its myriad cleavages along ethnic, religious, social, and geographical fault lines -- Goodson then examines the devastating course of the war itself. He charts its utter destruction of the country, from the deaths of more than 2 million Afghans and the dispersal of some six million others as refugees to the complete collapse of its economy, which today has been replaced by monoagriculture in opium poppies and heroin production. The Taliban, some of whose leaders Goodson interviewed as recently as 1997, have controlled roughly 80 percent of the country but themselves have shown increasing discord along ethnic and political lines.

A critical assessment of America's foreign policy in the Middle East throughout the past four decades evaluates and connects regional engagements since 1990 while revealing their massive costs.

"Endless War? casts a critical light on the real motives behind war and terror. David Keen explores how winning war is rarely an end in itself; rather, war often provides cover for wider political and economic games in which strengthening the enemy is either irrelevant or positively useful. Keen devises a radical framework for analysing an unending war project where violence creates its own legitimacy and where the 'war on terror' is only the latest extension of a Cold War project."--BOOK JACKET.

The definitive book about America’s perpetual wars and how to end them from bestselling author, military expert, and award-winning journalist William M. Arkin. The first rule of perpetual war is to never stop, a fact which former NBC News analyst William M. Arkin knows better than anyone, having served in the Army and having covered all of America’s wars over the past three decades. He has spent his career investigating how the military throws around the word “war” to justify everything, from physical combat to today’s globe-straddling cyber and intelligence network. In The Generals Have No Clothes, Arkin traces how we got where we are—bombing ten countries, killing terrorists in dozens more—all without Congressional approval or public knowledge. Starting after the 9/11 attacks, the government put forth a singular idea that perpetual war was the only way to keep the American people safe. Arkin explains why President Obama failed to achieve his national security goal of ending war in Iraq and reducing our military engagements, and shows how President Trump has been frustrated in his attempts to end conflict in Afghanistan and Syria. He also reveals how COVID-19 is a watershed moment for the military, where the country’s civilian and public health needs clash with the demands of future wars against China and Russia, North Korea and Iran. Proposing bold solutions, Arkin calls for a new era of civilian control over the military. He also calls for a Global Security Index (GSX), the security equivalent to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which would measure the national and international events in real time to determine whether perpetual war is actually making the nation safer. Arguing that the American people should be empowered by facts rather than spurred by fear, The Generals Have No Clothes outlines how we can take control of the military…before it’s too late.

War corrupts. Endless war corrupts absolutely. Ever since 9/11 America has fought an endless war on terror, seeking enemies everywhere and never promising peace. In Pay Any Price, James Risen reveals an extraordinary litany of the hidden costs of that war: from squandered and stolen dollars, to outrageous abuses of power, to wars on normalcy, decency, and truth. In the name of fighting terrorism, our government has done things every bit as shameful as its historic wartime abuses -- and until this book, it has worked very hard to cover them up. Lincoln suspended habeas corpus. FDR authorized the internment of thousands of Japanese Americans. Presidents Bush and Obama now must face their own reckoning. Power corrupts, but it is endless war that corrupts absolutely.

Survival, the IISS's bimonthly journal, challenges conventional wisdom and brings fresh, often controversial, perspectives on strategic issues of the moment.In this issue:Anatol Lieven argues that the Taliban will remain the most powerful military and political force among the Pashtuns of AfghanistanLanxin Xiang contends that, following what he describes as Donald Trump's racist China policy, the Biden administration must avoid casting China as an alien threatDani Filc and Sharon Pardo assess that right-wing populists in Israel and Europe have become ideological allies, harnessing ethnic nationalism against global IslamAlex J. Bellamy and Charles T. Hunt analyse the intricacies of the use of force to protect civilians in UN peacekeeping missions And seven more thought-provoking pieces, as well as our regular Book Reviews and Noteworthy column.Editor: Dr Dana AllinManaging Editor: Jonathan StevensonAssociate Editor: Carolyn WestAssistant Editor: Jessica Watson.