Steven Simon
Review Essay
JUL/AUG
2009
Two new books offer insightful analyses of how to succeed in Afghanistan. But the sheer difficulty of the task points to the need for an alternative strategy -- one that defends U.S. interests without trying to rebuild a shattered country.
Essay
May/June
2008
The Bush administration's new strategy in Iraq has helped reduce violence. But the surge is not linked to any sustainable plan for building a viable Iraqi state and may even have made such an outcome less likely -- by stoking the revanchist fantasies of Sunni tribes and pitting them against the central government. The recent short-term gains have thus come at the expense of the long-term goal of a stable, unitary Iraq.
Response
Mar/Apr
2006
The Next Attack's authors argue that Washington's mistakes in Iraq and at home have weakened U.S. security; Falkenrath responds.
Review Essay
Jan/Feb
2006
Policymakers need a guide to the complexities and challenges of the struggle against terrorism. Unfortunately, two authors who could have written one have chosen instead to rehash the Bush administration's mistakes.
Essay
May/Jun
2004
The Bush administration has shrugged off the Syrian president's recent attempts at rapprochement with the West. It should think again. With Syria's old ally Saddam Hussein gone, Damascus is trapped in a strategic quandary that makes it highly receptive to coercive diplomacy--of the kind that worked on Libya. And by engaging Syria sooner rather than later, the United States could give the Middle East peace process a shove in the right direction.
Review Essay
Jan/Feb
2003
The Age of Sacred Terror vividly recounts how al Qaeda emerged and how America responded. This sobering history reveals the true difficulty of the war on terror.
