The Afghan Decade

Both Chris Alexander’s The Long Way Back: Afghanistan’s Quest for Peace and Terry Glavin’s Come from the Shadows: The Long and Lonely Struggle for Peace in Afghanistan were released within a few days of the tenth anniversary of the American-led attack on the Afghan Taliban regime in response to the 9/11 attacks on the United States. Both describe the progress and frustrations of the decade-long international intervention in Afghanistan and both hold out hope for the future of that tragic country. That said, Alexander and Glavin have written two very different books that represent two very different views. While Alexander believes that the international community involvement and the political process that began after the fall of the Taliban have contributed to the development and democratization (albeit slow and erratic) of Afghanistan over the past decade, Glavin is highly critical of the international effort, including Afghan and western political leaders...