Book Review: Unwinnable Wars: Afghanistan and the Future of American Armed Statebuilding

Authors

Erik Goepner

Files

Description

Author: Adam Wunische

Reviewed by Dr. Erik Goepner, US government analyst, Colonel (US Air Force, retired)

Dr. Erik Goepner reviews analyst Adam Wunische’s Unwinnable Wars, which, according to Gopener, offers a “timeless reminder—American power has limits.” Goepner provides a helpful outline of Wunische’s four “major preexisting conditions that severely limit the success of armed state-building efforts.” Wunische argues that preexisting conditions are “beyond the control of the intervening power” and “often foreordain the failure of such missions” (such as Afghanistan, the book’s main case study).

Publication Date

9-25-2024

Keywords

military intervention, armed state building, policy making, international relations, Afghanistan

Disciplines

Defense and Security Studies

Recommended Citation

Erik Goepner, Book Review: Unwinnable Wars: Afghanistan and the Future of American Armed Statebuilding ( US Army War College Press, 2024),
https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters_bookshelf/59