Afghanistan and Iraq

In this seminar we will examine the ongoing wars and conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. The seminar will focus on the history of conflict in the region in the 1990s, the initial war in Afghanistan in 2001, the 2003 invasion of Iraq and its aftermath, and the recent military surge in Afghanistan. Subjects will include military transformation, strategic doctrine, and the rise of counterinsurgency theory and its changing practice on the ground. We will watch documentaries and other films, and read political and military analyses and histories, memoirs, and a work of fiction.