Why do presidents and their advisors often make sub-optimal decisions on military intervention, escalation, de-escalation, and termination of conflicts?
The leading concept of group dynamics, groupthink, offers one explanation: policy-making groups make sub-optimal decisions due to their desire for conformity and uniformity over dissent, leading to a failure to consider other relevant possibilities. But presidential advisory groups are often fragmented and divisive. This book therefore scrutinizes polythink, a group decision-making dynamic whereby different members in a decision-making unit espouse a plurality of opinions and divergent policy prescriptions, resulting in a disjointed decision-making process or even decision paralysis.
The book analyzes eleven national security decisions, including the national security policy designed prior to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the decisions to enter into and withdraw from Afghanistan and Iraq, the 2007 "surge" decision, the crisis over the Iranian nuclear program, the UN Security Council decision on the Syrian Civil War, the faltering Kerry Peace Process in the Middle East, and the U.S. decision on military operations against ISIS.
Based on the analysis of these case studies, the authors address implications of the polythink phenomenon, including prescriptions for avoiding and/or overcoming it, and develop strategies and tools for what they call Productive Polythink. The authors also show the applicability of polythink to business, industry, and everyday decisions.
Why do presidents and their advisors often make sub-optimal decisions on military intervention, escalation, de-escalation, and termination of conflicts?
The leading concept of group dynamics, groupthink, offers one explanation: policy-making groups make sub-optimal decisions due to their desire for conformity and uniformity over dissent, leading to a failure to consider other relevant possibilities. But presidential advisory groups are often fragmented and divisive. This book therefore scrutinizes polythink, a group decision-making dynamic whereby different members in a decision-making unit espouse a plurality of opinions and divergent policy prescriptions, resulting in a disjointed decision-making process or even decision paralysis.
The book analyzes eleven national security decisions, including the national security policy designed prior to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the decisions to enter into and withdraw from Afghanistan and Iraq, the 2007 "surge" decision, the crisis over the Iranian nuclear program, the UN Security Council decision on the Syrian Civil War, the faltering Kerry Peace Process in the Middle East, and the U.S. decision on military operations against ISIS.
Based on the analysis of these case studies, the authors address implications of the polythink phenomenon, including prescriptions for avoiding and/or overcoming it, and develop strategies and tools for what they call Productive Polythink. The authors also show the applicability of polythink to business, industry, and everyday decisions.
Автор: Griffin Suzanne M. Название: Lessons of Love in Afghanistan: A Lifelong Commitment to the Afghan People ISBN: 1934733822 ISBN-13(EAN): 9781934733820 Издательство: Неизвестно Цена: 16510.00 T Наличие на складе: Есть у поставщика Поставка под заказ. Описание: Often risky, sometimes dangerous, Suzanne Griffin's work in Afghanistan has been sustained by love. In 1968, she went to Afghanistan a neophyte. Romantic love had led her there as a newlywed, the wife of a Peace Corps Officer. Love for the Afghan people led her back thirty-four years later, a respected college dean and a widow who knew her heart and had the education, position, tenacity and grace to help Afghans improve maternal health and broaden access to education for women and girls. Love, as she says, can take you many places that you never dreamed of going. -In this memoir, you will see that in traditional cultures that respect wisdom and age, older, educated, energetic foreign women can overcome barriers that stop younger foreign co-workers. -You will meet Afghans whose sacrifices for love illustrate the strength of the human heart. -You will understand how it is possible to survive widowhood or heartache by following a compelling call to serve others on a large scale. -You will see how one woman helps overcome perceived cultural barriers by applying the simple principles of inclusiveness, respect, and power-based negotiation.
Автор: Neville Leigh Название: US Army Green Beret in Afghanistan 2001–02 ISBN: 1472814002 ISBN-13(EAN): 9781472814005 Издательство: Osprey Рейтинг: Цена: 14840.00 T Наличие на складе: Невозможна поставка. Описание: Reveals the grueling Green Beret training and preparation, the specialized equipment they used in the field and traces their deployment throughout the campaign, from the first insertion of forces through to the fall of Kabul and Kandahar, the Taliban uprising at the notorious Fort of War in Mazar-e-Sharif, and more.
Автор: Stewart Jules Название: The Kaiser`s Mission to Kabul: A Secret Expedition to Afghanistan in World War I ISBN: 1788314581 ISBN-13(EAN): 9781788314589 Издательство: Bloomsbury Рейтинг: Цена: 17810.00 T Наличие на складе: Есть у поставщика Поставка под заказ. Описание: In 1915, at the height of World War I, the Central Powers sent a secret mission, led by Oskar Ritter von Niedermayer and Werner Otto von Hentig, to the court of the emir of Afghanistan, Habibullah Khan.
Counter Jihad is a sweeping account of America's military campaigns in the Islamic world. Revising our understanding of what was once known as the War on Terror, it provides a retrospective on the extraordinary series of conflicts that saw the United States deploy more than two and a half million men and women to fight in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. Brian Glyn Williams traces these unfolding wars from their origins in the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan through U.S. Central Command's ongoing campaign to "degrade and destroy" the hybrid terrorist group known as ISIS. Williams takes readers on a journey beginning with the 2001 U.S. overthrow of the Taliban, to the toppling of Saddam Hussein, to the unexpected emergence of the notorious ISIS "Caliphate" in the Iraqi lands that the United States once occupied. Counter Jihad is the first history of America's military operations against radical Islamists, from the Taliban-controlled Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan, to the Sunni Triangle of Iraq, to ISIS's headquarters in the deserts of central Syria, giving both generalists and specialists an overview of events that were followed by millions but understood by few. Williams provides the missing historical context for the rise of the terror group ISIS out of the ashes of Saddam Hussein's secular Baathist Iraq, arguing that it is only by carefully exploring the recent past can we understand how this jihadist group came to conquer an area larger than Britain and spread havoc from Syria to Paris to San Bernardino.
Автор: Brinkley Douglas, Brinkley Paul Название: Iraq and Afghanistan ISBN: 1118239229 ISBN-13(EAN): 9781118239223 Издательство: Wiley Цена: 21110.00 T Наличие на складе: Есть у поставщика Поставка под заказ. Описание:
As the top-ranking official at the U.S. Department of Defense in charge of economic rebuilding, Brinkley and his organization of hundreds of business volunteers struggled against bureaucratic policies to revolutionize foreign aid by leveraging America's strength--its private sector. In doing so, his team demonstrated success in the midst of failure, and created hundreds of thousands of jobs in areas long written off by the civilian bureaucracy as hopeless.
Reporting directly to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Brinkley spent five years overseeing economic improvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. The lessons learned in these two nations were soon extended into the war-torn nations of Pakistan, Rwanda, and Sudan.
Brinkley, who worked under both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama Administrations, reveals why American foreign policy has left these nations in the Middle East and Africa disappointed, resentful, and suspicious of American intentions. Optimistic that America can deliver on its economic promise, Brinkley outlines in War Front to Store Front the necessary changes in U.S. foreign policy if we want to rebuild and revitalize an economy under fire.
This engaging account details:
Fascinating insights of the inner workings of American government and its largest bureaucracy--the U.S. Department of Defense
Vivid descriptions of a group of business leaders who sought to change how the Pentagon did business, and who wound up in a war zone, including a firsthand experience of a terrorist attack
Detailed account of the American business model for foreign development that can improve the lives of war-ravaged citizens, at far less cost than existing military and foreign aid programs
Insights into the transition of the Bush Administration to the Obama Administration, and its impact on foreign policy
Inside details on the real business climate in Iraq, before and after Saddam Hussein, as well as its political landscape
Detailed analysis of the future of Afghanistan, economically and politically, and how its democratic institutions struggle to gain a foothold
Comprehensive map to connect Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan to the global economy, creating opportunity and reducing anti-Americanism
Thorough breakdown of lessons learned in the Middle East and U.S. efforts to translate them to African nations, including Rwanda and Sudan
Автор: Call Steve Название: Danger Close: Tactical Air Controllers in Afghanistan and Iraq ISBN: 1603441425 ISBN-13(EAN): 9781603441421 Издательство: Mare Nostrum (Eurospan) Цена: 19190.00 T Наличие на складе: Есть у поставщика Поставка под заказ. Описание: "America had a secret weapon," writes Steve Call of the period immediately following September 11, 2001, as planners contemplated the invasion of Afghanistan. This weapon consisted of small teams of Special Forces operatives trained in close air support (CAS) who, in cooperation with the loose federation of Afghan rebels opposed to the Taliban regime, soon began achieving impressive-and unexpected-military victories over Taliban forces and the al-Qaeda terrorists they had sponsored. The astounding success of CAS tactics coupled with ground operations in Afghanistan soon drew the attention of military decision makers and would eventually factor into the planning for another campaign: Operation Iraqi Freedom. But who, exactly, are these air power experts and what is the function of the TACPs (Tactical Air Control Parties) in which they operate? Danger Close provides a fascinating look at a dedicated, courageous, innovative, and often misunderstood and misused group of military professionals. Drawing on the gripping first-hand accounts of their battlefield experiences, Steve Call allows the TACPs to speak for themselves. He accompanies their narratives with informed analysis of the development of CAS strategy, including potentially controversial aspects of the interservice rivalries between the air force and the army which have at times complicated and even obstructed the optimal employment of TACP assets. Danger Close makes clear, however, that the systematic coordination of air power and ground forces played an invaluable supporting role in the initial military victories in both Afghanistan and Iraq. This first-ever examination of the intense, life-and-death world of the close air support specialist will introduce readers to a crucial but little-known aspect of contemporary warfare and add a needed chapter in American military history studies. STEVE CALL is an assistant professor at Broome Community College in Binghamton, New York, teaching both American and military history. During his twenty-year career in the air force, Call held many command and staff positions, including liaison officer with the army, Pentagon staff officer, and squadron commander. His PhD in military history is from Ohio State University.
Автор: Jalali Ali Ahmad Название: A Military History of Afghanistan: From the Great Game to the Global War on Terror ISBN: 0700624074 ISBN-13(EAN): 9780700624072 Издательство: Mare Nostrum (Eurospan) Рейтинг: Цена: 56840.00 T Наличие на складе: Есть у поставщика Поставка под заказ. Описание: The history of Afghanistan is largely military history. From the Persians and Greeks of antiquity to the British, Soviet, and American powers in modern times, outsiders have led military conquests into the mountains and plains of Afghanistan, leaving their indelible marks on this ancient land at the juncture of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. In this book Ali Ahmad Jalali, a former interior minister of Afghanistan, taps a deep understanding of his country's distant and recent past to explore Afghanistan's military history during the last two hundred years. With an introductory chapter highlighting the major military developments from early times to the foundation of the modern Afghan state, Jalali's account focuses primarily on the era of British conquest and Anglo-Afghan wars; the Soviet invasion; the civil war and the rise of the Taliban; and the subsequent U.S. invasion. Looking beyond persistent stereotypes and generalizations--e.g., the ""graveyard of empires"" designation emerging from the Anglo-Afghan wars of the 19th century and the Soviet experience of the 1980s--Jalali offers a nuanced and comprehensive portrayal of the way of war pursued by both state and non-state actors in Afghanistan against different domestic and foreign enemies, under changing social, political, and technological conditions. He reveals how the structure of states, tribes, and social communities in Afghanistan, along with the scope of their controlled space, has shaped their modes of fighting throughout history. In particular, his account shows how dynastic wars and foreign conquests differ in principle, strategy, and method from wars initiated by non-state actors including tribal and community militias against foreign invasions or repressive government. Written by a professional soldier, politician, and noted scholar with a keen analytical grasp of his country's military and political history, this magisterial work offers unique insight into the military history of Afghanistan--and thus, into Afghanistan itself.
Автор: David E. McNabb Название: Oil and the Creation of Iraq: Policy Failures and the 1914-1918 War in Mesopotamia ISBN: 1498744931 ISBN-13(EAN): 9781498744935 Издательство: Taylor&Francis Рейтинг: Цена: 148010.00 T Наличие на складе: Невозможна поставка. Описание: Off to the sidelines of the brutal western front of World War I was a nasty little campaign by British and India troops sent to secure Persian oil fields. Explaining what and how this happened in the early decades of the twentieth century goes beyond being just another history of a distant campaign in the 1914 to 1918 war. The highs and lows of what many British military planners in London considered to be a minor campaign in a distant theatre of operations proved to be a long, costly conflict the results of which still influence events today. Oil and the Creation of Iraq describes how the policies of allied military leaders of the time resulted in pushing the Ottoman government into partnership with Germany and Austria during World War I, resulting in its disintegration and loss of its Middle Eastern territories. The book then describes how the political and economic aims of the nations involved in the Mesopotamian campaign influenced the fighting and subsequent creation of Iraq, a new nation with few defensible boundaries, but one sitting atop an almost inexhaustible supply of oil and gas.
Автор: Matt Zeller Название: Watches Without Time: An American Soldier in Afghanistan ISBN: 1935982206 ISBN-13(EAN): 9781935982203 Издательство: Gazelle Book Services Рейтинг: Цена: 27100.00 T Наличие на складе: Невозможна поставка. Описание: For eight months in 2008, U.S. Army Capt. Matt Zeller served as an embedded combat adviser with Afghan security forces in Ghazni, Afghanistan. Watches Without Time is a compilation of the emails he sent home to family and friends during that period--so that, as he writes in the Preface, "should anything have ever happened to me, they would know what I went through."Watches Without Time gives a granular account of the challenges Zeller and his men encountered in Ghazni, and of the complex missions they undertook there. Written in clear and searingly intimate prose, it highlights the many emotion-laden experiences he underwent both during his tour and after his return to the United States.
Автор: Bojan Savic Название: Afghanistan Under Siege: The Afghan Body and the Postcolonial Border ISBN: 178831526X ISBN-13(EAN): 9781788315265 Издательство: Bloomsbury Academic Рейтинг: Цена: 105600.00 T Наличие на складе: Есть у поставщика Поставка под заказ. Описание: In this book, based on field work undertaken in Afghanistan itself and through engagement with postcolonial theory, Bojan Savic critiques western intervention in Afghanistan by showing how its casting of Afghan natives as “dangerous” has created a power network which fractures the country – in echoes of 19th and 20th century colonial powers in the region. Savic also offers an analysis of how and by what means global security priorities have affected Afghan lives.
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