As the United States withdraws its combat troops from Iraq and
Afghanistan, politicians, foreign policy specialists, and the
public are worrying about the consequences of leaving these two
countries. Neither nation can be considered stable, and progress
toward democracy in them--a principal aim of America and the
West--is fragile at best. But, international relations scholar Mark
N. Katz asks: Could ending both wars actually help the United
States and its allies to overcome radical Islam in the long
term?
Drawing lessons from the Cold War, Katz makes the case that
rather than signaling the decline of American power and influence,
removing military forces from Afghanistan and Iraq puts the U.S. in
a better position to counter the forces of radical Islam and
ultimately win the war on terror. He explains that since both wars
will likely remain intractable, for Washington to remain heavily
involved in either is counter-productive. Katz argues that looking
to its Cold War experience would help the U.S. find better
strategies for employing America's scarce resources to deal with
its adversaries now. This means that, although leaving Afghanistan
and Iraq may well appear to be a victory for America's opponents in
the short term--as was the case when the U.S. withdrew from
Indochina--the larger battle with militant Islam can be won only by
refocusing foreign and military policy away from these two
quagmires.
This sober, objective assessment of what went wrong in the
U.S.-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the ways the West can
disentangle itself and still move forward draws striking parallels
with the Cold War. Anyone concerned with the future of the War on
Terror will find Katz's argument highly thought provoking.
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