Staff Bios
Kimberly Kagan
Kimberly Kagan is the President of the Institute for the Study of War, who is a military historian who has taught at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Yale University, Georgetown University, and American University. She is currently an affiliate of the Olin Institute for Strategic Studies at Harvard University.
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Iraq 'surge' should be tailored for Afghanistan
Published: Nov 10, 2009
Veterans Day is when we as Americans honor the achievements of our armed forces. It commemorates the end of the First World War due, in no small part, to the sacrifices and efforts of the American military. It is also a fitting moment to reflect on more recent accomplishments and the qualities of the American armed forces that made them possible. A few days ago, Iraq's Council of Representatives passed a law by which the Iraqi people will elect a new parliament and prime minister in January 2010. This important political milestone is a measure of the success of the "surge" of U.S. forces into Iraq that not only ended a sectarian civil war but also set the conditions for the...
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Can Iraq Awakening be repeated in Afghanistan?
Published: Sep 15, 2009
The Anbar Awakening was one of the keys to American success in Iraq. Many policymakers are now wondering aloud if it is possible to replicate that phenomenon in Afghanistan.
This question is important because it directly relates to the number of additional American forces that will be required to succeed in Afghanistan.
On the surface, there are a number of indicators that an Afghan Awakening might be possible: Support for the Taliban is low and fragile; Afghan tribal structures are as strong or stronger than those in Iraq; Afghans have a long tradition of self-organization in defense of their own communities against outsiders.
These indicators, however, conceal more fundamental...
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Afghan army and police forces must grow much larger
Published: Aug 18, 2009
More U.S. troops are needed in Afghanistan in part because there are too few Afghan National Security Forces, and they are not yet effective enough to conduct counterinsurgency missions. The growing strength of the insurgency and the limitations on the ANSF create a security gap that only additional international forces will be able to fill over the coming few years.
Yet achieving the president's stated objective of establishing an Afghan state that will not provide sanctuary to al Qaeda requires an ANSF that can control the territory of Afghanistan with reasonable external assistance. Only the development of a much larger and more effective ANSF will permit the gradual withdrawal of...
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Flexibility key to U.S. withdrawal from Iraqi cities
Published: Jun 23, 2009
Amazing events are occurring in Iraq. For the first time since the start of the war, American forces are withdrawing from Iraq’s cities, reducing their numbers and turning responsibility for security over to Iraqi forces. It is not the first time the United States has tried to hand off security to the Iraqis. At the end of 2006, as violence was exploding throughout Iraq, American forces were actually handing over bases in Baghdad and preparing to withdraw. As we drew down, violence went up. The situation deteriorated so badly that the United States had to fight its way back into Baghdad in 2007 during the “surge,” retaking areas from which we had pulled back a few months...
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In Afghanistan, new team faces daunting challenges
Published: May 26, 2009
The Senate will soon consider President Barack Obama’s nomination of Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal to command military forces in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez as his deputy and Adm. James Stavridis to command NATO. When these three military leaders take their posts, joining new U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, the president will have changed the entire U.S. senior leadership for Afghanistan — aside from Gen. David Petraeus, who arrived at Central Command in October 2008. The new leadership, combined with the increase in U.S. forces, creates the opportunity to revamp the effort to stabilize Afghanistan.
The challenges facing this outstanding team are daunting. It will...
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