How can you achieve victory in war if you don't have a clear idea of your political aims and a vision of what victory means? In this provocative challenge to US political aims and strategy, Donald Stoker argues that America endures endless wars because its leaders no longer know how to think about war, particularly wars fought for limited aims, taking the nation to war without understanding what they want or valuing victory and thus the ending of the war. He reveals how flawed ideas on so-called 'limited war' and war in general evolved against the backdrop of American conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. These ideas, he shows, undermined America's ability to understand, wage, and win its wars, and to secure peace. Now fully updated to incorporate the American withdrawal from Afghanistan, Why America Loses Wars dismantles seventy years of misguided thinking and lays the foundations for a new approach to the wars of tomorrow.
- Reveals why America fails to win wars or secure peace afterwards
- Fully updated to address the US withdrawal from Afghanistan
- Demonstrates that current flawed 'limited war' ideas of have contributed to America's defeats and 'forever wars'
- Dismantles existing Cold War and post-Cold War limited war theories
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Reviews & endorsements
'… this is a book that every policy maker and military officer should read.' Heather Venable, The Strategy Bridge
'an ambitious book that does a superb job of serving as a starting point to a sorely needed conversation on current limited war strategy. Reading it should hopefully spark conversation among policymakers and strategy practitioners on how to approach Americas future wars.' Travis Zahnow, Small Wars Journal
'Why America Loses Wars will be of great interest to the general reader … The book deserves serious attention from scholars and policymakers alike.' Joseph A. Ledford, H-War
'The recommendations and insights in Why America Loses Wars deserve widespread circulation among strategists.' Jon Middaugh, Naval Historical Foundation
'Reading this book would make a good starting-point for leaders interested in correcting seven decades of poor decision-making.' Andrew Payne, International Affairs
'Stoker's analysis of the United States' failures is convincing.' Lawrence Freedman, Foreign Affairs
'The book was very enjoyable and thoughtful. I would highly recommend it to anyone who works in or has interest in national security, modern military history, and military strategy.' Col. Robert Sherrill, Military Review
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Product details
- Date Published: May 2022
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9781009220866
- length: 340 pages
- dimensions: 228 x 150 x 21 mm
- weight: 0.53kg
- availability: Available
Table of Contents
1. Are We at war? What Do We want? And Do We Want to Win?
2. The Way We Think about War (Particularly So-Called Limited War) Is Broken: Here Is How We Fix It
3. The Political Aim: Why Nations Fight (Limited) Wars
4. Constraints: Or Why Wars for Limited Political Aims Are So Difficult
5. Strategy: How to Think about Fighting for a Limited Political Aim
6. And You Thought the War Was Hard: Ending the War and Securing the Peace
Conclusion: Is History Rhyming?
Look Inside
Author
Donald Stoker
Donald Stoker is Professor of National Security and Resource Strategy at the Dwight D. Eisenhower School of the National Defense University in Washington, DC. He was Professor of Strategy and Policy for the US Naval War College's Monterey Program at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, from 1999 until 2017. The author or editor of thirteen books, his Carl von Clausewitz: His Life and Work is on the British Army professional-reading list. His Purpose and Power: American Grand Strategy in Peace and War, 1775-2021 will be published by Cambridge University Press & Assessment in 2022.

This title is available for institutional purchase via Cambridge Core

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Why America Loses Wars
Limited War and US Strategy from the Korean War to the Present

£14.99