Reviewer: Jim Miles
Original Publication: The Palestine Chronicle
Publication Date: 10 May 2019
Photo Credit: Alejandra/Pixabay
External Review
This review of America in Afghanistan: Foreign Policy and Decision Making from Bush to Obama to Trump by Sharifullah Dorani was originally published in The Palestine Chronicle. A short excerpt and summary are presented here for readers of this website.
Key Comment
“A clear and accessible overview of the political arguments and decisions that shaped the Afghanistan War from the United States’ perspective.”
Summary of the Review
Jim Miles describes America in Afghanistan as a well-structured and readable analysis of how successive US administrations approached the Afghanistan War from 2001 onwards. The book is organised around the presidencies of George W Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump, with each section broken into phases of initiation, implementation, and evaluation. This structure, Miles notes, makes the long conflict easier to follow.
Bush Administration
Under President George W. Bush, early decisions were shaped by the urgency of events following 9/11. Dorani highlights Bush’s reliance on key advisers—including Donald Rumsfeld—and the influence of long-standing strategic thinking within Washington. The reviewer notes that, despite initial focus on Afghanistan, attention soon shifted to Iraq, complicating long-term planning.
Obama Administration
President Barack Obama is presented as a more deliberative figure, balancing competing advice on whether to scale down the war or escalate. His eventual choice—a calibrated troop surge combined with a defined end date—reflected an attempt to stabilise Afghanistan while signalling a shift away from open-ended military involvement.
Trump Administration
Dorani’s portrayal of President Donald Trump emphasises inconsistency and unpredictability. Miles summarises the administration’s approach as fragmented, with large decisions often delegated to the Pentagon. This led to a modest increase in troop levels and a notable rise in air operations, though without major strategic change.
Regional Dynamics
While regional factors inevitably shaped the conflict, Miles’s review—like Dorani’s analysis—keeps the main focus on US internal debates, administrative shifts, and the broader evolution of policy. Neighbouring countries appear in the background of the narrative, but the heart of the book remains Washington’s decision-making process.
Overall Assessment
Miles concludes that Dorani’s book offers a clear introduction to the political, strategic, and administrative arguments that defined America’s longest war. Although he questions a few of the book’s concluding observations, he affirms its value as an accessible and useful overview for students, researchers, and general readers interested in US foreign policy.
➡Read the full review: America in Afghanistan: Foreign Policy Making From Bush to Obama to Trump — Book Review
*Dr Sharifullah Dorani holds a PhD from Durham University on America’s Afghanistan War, a Master of Laws from University College London, and a degree in law from the University of Northampton, all in the UK. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles and two acclaimed books: The Lone Leopard, a novel set in Afghanistan, and America in Afghanistan, published by Bloomsbury Publishing. He is the founder of CEPSAF and serves as the South Asia and Middle Eastern Editor at CESRAN International. All of Dr Dorani’s work is written to the highest academic standards and is widely indexed through Google Scholar.