Reviewer: Peggy Mason
Original Publication: The Rideau Institute
Date of Publication: 27 January 2020
Photo credit: Kamal Hyder/ Pexels
External Review
This review of America in Afghanistan: Foreign Policy and Decision Making from Bush to Obama to Trump by Sharifullah Dorani was written by Peggy Mason for the Rideau Institute and published on 27 January 2020. A short excerpt and summary are presented here for readers of this website.
Key Comment
Peggy Mason commends Dorani’s work as an academically rigorous yet accessible account that clarifies why the Afghan conflict persisted despite years of international military engagement. She emphasises the book’s value in identifying the political roots of the war and the urgent need for a comprehensive peace strategy.
Summary of the Review
The reviewer situates Dorani’s book against the backdrop of Afghanistan’s continuing violence, noting that by late 2019 civilian casualties had reached their highest levels since systematic monitoring began. From this perspective, she highlights Dorani’s timely examination of nearly two decades of U.S. policy.
Mason describes the book as a clear, detailed narrative of how American decision-making evolved from the early years of President Bush’s response to 9/11 through the Obama and Trump administrations. She stresses Dorani’s argument that, although vast military resources were deployed and numerous political initiatives attempted, US policymakers consistently struggled to craft coherent strategies capable of addressing Afghanistan’s internal political fractures and the broader regional environment.
According to the review, Dorani’s analysis shows how Washington repeatedly identified major regional concerns but often failed to translate these insights into durable diplomatic or political solutions. Mason praises the book for its balance, its depth of research, and its insistence that sustainable peace requires engaging with Afghan political realities and regional dynamics in a structured and long-term manner.
She concludes that the book is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand why the conflict endured for so long and why a comprehensive, politically grounded approach remains vital for Afghanistan’s future.
➡Link to the Review: Book Review: America in Afghanistan: Foreign Policy and Decision Making from Bush to Obama to Trump by Sharifullah Dorani
*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, is widely indexed through Google Scholar, and is available in the libraries of hundreds of institutions worldwide, including Oxford and Harvard.