Graveyard+of+Empires

Graveyard of Empires Reading Guide Seth Jones: Graveyard of Empires [3 Weeks: Week #1 to Week #3]


 * Condensed schedule**


 * WEEK #1**

Tuesday: Chronology Introduction Chapter 1: Descent into Violence Chapter 2: The Mujahideen Era Chapter 3: Uncivil War

Thursday: Chapter 4: The Rise of the Taliban Chapter 5: Al Qa'ida's Strategic Alliance


 * WEEK #2**

Tuesday: Chapter 6: Operation Enduring Freedom Chapter 7: Light Footprint Chapter 8: Early Successes Chapter 9: The Logic of Insurgency

Thursday: Chapter 10: Collapse of Law and Order Chapter 11: A Growing Cancer Chapter 12: The Perfect Storm


 * WEEK #3**

Tuesday: Chapter 13: A Three-Front War Chapter 14: National Caveats Chapter 15: The Water Must Boil

Thursday: Chapter 16: Al Qa'ida: A Force Multiplier Chapter 17: In the Eye of the Storm Chapter 18: Back to the Future Afterword:


 * Detailed Reading Schedule**

Chronology—this is useful

Introduction (xix-xxxiv) Read the introduction completely

Chapter 1: Descent into Violence 3 Afghanistan's strategic location. Use map opposite and Google Earth. 7 Entire page 8 Pashtunistan. 10 First paragraph on governmental setup 18 Soviet's threat assessment

Chapter 2: The Mujahideen Era 23 People: Zalmay Khalilzad. Get to know him. Where is he today? 26 Soviets concentrated on military and secret police. 27 Soviet invasion plan 30 Learn what we can about the Pakistani ISI 34-35 Read carefully both pages 37 A Flamboyant Congressman from Texas 40 Soviets felt U.S. would not intervene.

Chapter 3: Uncivil War 45 Middle paragraph on ethnic groups and neighboring countries 45-48 Interference from Neighbors 48-50 Waning U.S. Interest 51 Window of opportunity for the Taliban to emerge

Chapter 4: The Rise of the Taliban 57-63 The Knowledge Seekers 63-66 ISI Support 66-68 A Fateful Bargain

Chapter 5: Al Qa'ida's Strategic Alliance 70-74 Ideological Origins Get a sense of the role of Saudi Arabia 74 "Most Arab states viewed the veterans of Afghanistan as a serious threat." 83-85 A Dangerous Alliance

Chapter 6: Operation Enduring Freedom 86-108 READ THIS ENTIRE CHAPTER

Chapter 7: Light Footprint 109 Panama as a model for a light footprint. 110-115 Naïve and Irresponsible 120 Should U.S. develop a carabinieri or gendarmerie? 124 Paragraph: "It soon became clear that…" 124-129 A Fait Accompli 129-131 Warlords 131-133 Learning the Right Lessons?

Chapter 8: Early Successes 139-142 "Accelerating Success" 150 Replacement of US leaders

Chapter 9: The Logic of Insurgency 151-162 READ ENTIRE CHAPTER

Chapter 10: Collapse of Law and Order 164-170 A Monopoly of Force? (164-170) 172 Problems with the Afghan police 174 Focus on "checking the boxes" 176-180 Afghan National Army 181 People fear for their lives

Chapter 11: A Growing Cancer 184 Paying lip service to governance versus providing actual services 188 Paradoxes of reconstruction in Afghanistan 189-192 Operational Primacy (189-192) 195 This page represents an effective summary of the drug issue 196 Should President Karzai get rid of his brother 200-202 A Cancer in the Government (200-202)

Chapter 12: The Perfect Storm 204 What comprised the "perfect storm" 209 Commanders told not to use "counterinsurgency" 212 Photos begin on opposite page. Look at each one and read captions. 216-217 Pat Tillman 221 Much useful material on this page.

Chapter 13: A Three-Front War 224-230 Complex Adaptive Systems 237 Why did people support the Taliban?

Chapter 14: National Caveats 238-39 What are the issues facing the coalition? 240 Why is this approach a "disaster" 245 NATO looking for a mission 248-253 NATO's Paradox 253-255 Clearing but Not Holding 255 What do you think of this assessment?

Chapter 15: The Water Must Boil 258 Why must the water boil at the right temperature? 263 Entire page 270-278 Lots of great issues within these pages

Chapter 16: Al Qa'ida: A Force Multiplier 284 Grievances against us

Chapter 17: In the Eye of the Storm 299 Read this page carefully 302 Provincial Reconstruction Teams 303-306 Civilian Casualties 308 Read this page carefully

Chapter 18: Back to the Future (313-325) 313-325 How realistic are these recommendations?

Afterword 327-340 Read these pages completely