The Net Assessment crew is back to discuss Carter Malkasian’s Foreign Affairs article, “How the Good War Went Bad: America’s Slow-Motion Failure in Afghanistan.” In this episode, Melanie and Chris are joined by Chris Brose, head of strategy at Anduril Industries. The trio dissect whether this peace deal is better than any other deal the United States could have struck in the past 18 years of fighting, and how much confidence the United States can have in the agreement. Are there facts on the battlefield that have made this agreement possible or is America just tired of fighting the war in Afghanistan? Also, Chris P. gives an attaboy to Mayor Pete, Chris B. tips his hat to Joe Biden, and Melanie gives a shout out to modern medicine.

 

Links

• Carter Malkasian, “How the Good War Went Bad: America’s Slow-Motion Failure in Afghanistan,” Foreign Affairs, March/April 2020
• John Glaser and John Mueller, “Overcoming Inertia: Why It’s Time to End the War in Afghanistan,” Cato, August 13, 2019
• Lauren Egan, “Trump Calls Coronavirus Democrats' 'New Hoax,'” NBC News, February 28, 2020
• Frank Bruni, “Mayor Pete Flew Sky High,” New York Times, March 1, 2020
• Michele Flournoy and Stephen Hadley, "The US Deal with the Taliban is an Important First Step," Washington Post, February 29, 2020
• Mark Esper, "This is Our Chance to Bring Troops Home from Afghanistan for Good," Washington Post, February 29, 2020
• Ari Levy and Alex Sherman, "Vox Media to Cut Hundreds of Freelance Jobs Ahead of Changes in California Gig Economy Laws," Washington Post, December 16 ,2019
• Katy Grimes, "California's AB5 Kills off 40-Year Lake Tahoe Music Festival," California Globe, March 1, 2020
• Jeremy Brown, "The Coronavirus is No 1918 Pandemic," Atlantic, March 3, 2020