About the Author:
Thomas Donnelly is a resident fellow in defense and security policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. He previously served as policy group director and professional staff member for the House Committee on Armed Services.
Frederick W. Kagan is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and director of the AEI Critical Threats Project. He was formerly associate professor of military history at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
Review:
Men who move frequently between military and civilian government positions, academic institutions, and various institutes, identify lessons from the US Global War on Terror and its successors. The essays were written in 2007 and 2008 as part of a larger project on US land power, but remain relevant as the Obama administration continues the war mongering of the Bush/Cheney years. They cover domestic politics and the long war; renegotiating the civil-military bargain after 9/11; centralization versus decentralization in preparing for and practicing mission command in counterinsurgency operations; the dysfunctional or dynamic Air Force and 21st-century conflicts; and strategy, counterinsurgency, and the Army. (Scitech Book News)
Since September 11 the phrase "the long war" has gradually emerged as a theoretical and practical alternative to "war on terrorism." "Long War" is defined, according to the editors of this new collection, as "an effort to create a new― and by American standards better―political order across the Greater Middle East." Donnelly and Kagan, leading military analysts with the American Enterprise Institute, have assembled a distinguished team of contributors. Peter D. Feaver suggests a "Long War" model will temper current partisan divisions, as did the cold war. Mackubin Owens sees "Long War" as a paradigm for reducing civil-military tensions exacerbated by a focus on immediate solutions. A very persuasive Charles J. Dunlap Jr. calls for the air force to explain to government, the press, and the public why air power is both effective and necessary, despite civilian deaths. Robert Killibrew concludes the volume by calling for the army to prepare for "hybrid" insurgencies: complex synergies of terror, combat, and public relations. "Long War" is a comprehensive approach, as opposed to specific efforts to suppress specific groups, and it receives serious consideration in this policy-oriented book. (Publishers Weekly)
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