Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

So you’re deploying to Afghanistan: Exum’s recommendations & more (II)

Here is Andrew Exum’s take on what a platoon leader or company commander might want to read before getting on the plane to Kandahar or Bagram. It is a great list, well presented, and concise. My only quibble is with whether the Kalyvas book on the logic of violence in civil wars is "fun." I ...

SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images
SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images
SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images

Here is Andrew Exum's take on what a platoon leader or company commander might want to read before getting on the plane to Kandahar or Bagram. It is a great list, well presented, and concise. My only quibble is with whether the Kalyvas book on the logic of violence in civil wars is "fun." I usually like hard books but that one gave me a headache.

Here is Andrew Exum’s take on what a platoon leader or company commander might want to read before getting on the plane to Kandahar or Bagram. It is a great list, well presented, and concise. My only quibble is with whether the Kalyvas book on the logic of violence in civil wars is "fun." I usually like hard books but that one gave me a headache.

And, just so you have this all in one place, here’s the item I wrote a couple of weeks ago that pulled together various documents I’ve flagged in this blog that might be helpful.

Meanwhile, here is Colonel Gentile’s critique. He takes a coupla pops at me, but I think it is worth reading. He is right about some things (like, how do we get out of these wars?), and provocative even where he is not (like, COIN is basically BS but we were doing it all along, thank you very much). Most importantly, I think this is worth reading because I suspect Gentile represents the silent majority of Army officers, and especially of generals, who generally seem to think, Screw you, Dave, we did pretty damn good in Iraq in 2003-2006, no matter what you and your intellectual soldiers and journalistic running dogs think.

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

More from Foreign Policy

An illustration shows the Statue of Liberty holding a torch with other hands alongside hers as she lifts the flame, also resembling laurel, into place on the edge of the United Nations laurel logo.
An illustration shows the Statue of Liberty holding a torch with other hands alongside hers as she lifts the flame, also resembling laurel, into place on the edge of the United Nations laurel logo.

A New Multilateralism

How the United States can rejuvenate the global institutions it created.

A view from the cockpit shows backlit control panels and two pilots inside a KC-130J aerial refueler en route from Williamtown to Darwin as the sun sets on the horizon.
A view from the cockpit shows backlit control panels and two pilots inside a KC-130J aerial refueler en route from Williamtown to Darwin as the sun sets on the horizon.

America Prepares for a Pacific War With China It Doesn’t Want

Embedded with U.S. forces in the Pacific, I saw the dilemmas of deterrence firsthand.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, seen in a suit and tie and in profile, walks outside the venue at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. Behind him is a sculptural tree in a larger planter that appears to be leaning away from him.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, seen in a suit and tie and in profile, walks outside the venue at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. Behind him is a sculptural tree in a larger planter that appears to be leaning away from him.

The Endless Frustration of Chinese Diplomacy

Beijing’s representatives are always scared they could be the next to vanish.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomes Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman during an official ceremony at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on June 22, 2022.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomes Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman during an official ceremony at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on June 22, 2022.

The End of America’s Middle East

The region’s four major countries have all forfeited Washington’s trust.