Author: Yuliya Smirnova
Publisher: East View
ISBN: 9780974297309
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 390

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Book Description

Author:
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1428910808
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 68

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Book Description
The defense debate tends to treat Afghanistan as either a revolution or a fluke: either the "Afghan Model" of special operations forces (SOF) plus precision munitions plus an indigenous ally is a widely applicable template for American defense planning, or it is a nonreplicable product of local idiosyncrasies. In fact, it is neither. The Afghan campaign of last fall and winter was actually much closer to a typical 20th century mid-intensity conflict, albeit one with unusually heavy fire support for one side. And this view has very different implications than either proponents or skeptics of the Afghan Model now claim. Afghan Model skeptics often point to Afghanistan's unusual culture of defection or the Taliban's poor skill or motivation as grounds for doubting the war's relevance to the future. Afghanistan's culture is certainly unusual, and there were many defections. The great bulk, however, occurred after the military tide had turned not before-hand. They were effects, not causes. The Afghan Taliban were surely unskilled and ill-motivated. The non-Afghan al Qaeda, however, have proven resolute and capable fighters. Their host's collapse was not attributable to any al Qaeda shortage of commitment or training. Afghan Model proponents, by contrast, credit precision weapons with annihilating enemies at a distance before they could close with our commandos or indigenous allies. Hence the model's broad utility: with SOF-directed bombs doing the real killing, even ragtag local militias will suffice as allies. All they need do is screen U.S. commandos from the occasional hostile survivor and occupy the abandoned ground thereafter. Yet the actual fighting in Afghanistan involved substantial close combat. Al Qaeda counterattackers closed, unseen, to pointblank range of friendly forces in battles at Highway 4 and Sayed Slim Kalay.

Author: John F. Shroder
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0128005459
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 593

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Book Description
Natural Resources in Afghanistan: Geographic and Geologic Perspectives on Centuries of Conflict details Afghanistan's physical geography — namely climate, soils, vegetation, water, hazards, and basic geologic background and terrain landforms — together with details of its rich natural resources, ethnic problems, and relevant past histories. The book couples these details with the challenges of environmental degradation and new environmental management and protection, all of which are considered finally in both pessimistic and optimistic modes. The reader comes away with a nuanced understanding of the issues that are likely to have great affect for this pivotal region of the world for decades to come. With an estimated $1-3 trillion dollars of ore in the ground, and multiple cross-reinforcing cancellations of big Asian power machinations (China, India, Iran, Pakistan), Afghanistan has an opportunity to gain more economic independence. At the same time, however, historic forces of negativity also pull it back toward the chaos and uncertainty that has defined the country and constrained its economic progress for decades. - Authored by the world's foremost expert on the geology and geomorphology of Afghanistan and its lucrative natural resources - Aids in the understanding of the physical environment, natural hazards, climate-change situations, and natural resources in one of the most geographically diverse and dangerous terrains in the world - Provides new concepts of resource-corridor development in a country with no indigenous expertise of its resources

Author: Christopher J. Lamb
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780988864207
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
This study explains the performance of Human Terrain Teams, why the large majority of commanders found them useful, and why collectively they did not ameliorate-much less reverse-growing cross-cultural tensions between U.S. forces and Afghans. It examines the tremendous challenges the Human Terrain Team program faced in starting and rapidly expanding a non-traditional military capability, and why some challenges were met successfully while others were not. First, a historical analysis explains how external forces and management decisions affected team performance. An organizational analysis then explains the variations in team performance by examining the teams with variables substantiated by previous studies of small cross-functional teams. Finally, all available commander observations on Human Terrain Team performance are analyzed to better determine why commanders were satisfied or dissatisfied with their teams. The insights from the three analyses-historical, organizational and commander assessments-are then integrated. The results demonstrate that Human Terrain Teams had to overcome numerous organizational limitations to perform well, but that they were able to meet the expectations of commanders who did not fully appreciate the optimum role the teams could play in an integrated counterinsurgency strategy.

Author: Tim Bird
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300154585
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 410

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Book Description
Examines why the West has failed to achieve its objectives in Afghanistan, discussing the country's drug trade, political corruption, troubled relations with Pakistan, and harsh terrain, and the lessons about nation building that can be learned from the experience.

Author: Montgomery McFate
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190216727
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 398

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Book Description
This volume addresses themes of enduring importance for US national security, such as the role of US forces in 'nation building, ' challenges of interagency coordination, innovation during wartime, and the larger strategic issues of the need for socio-cultural knowledge in American foreign policy. This book gives the reader insight into the growth and development of HTS, the largest single investment ever made by the Department of Defense in applied social science. This book also conveys what the experience of working on a small team in a combat zone was really like, both good and bad

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Afghanistan
Languages : en
Pages : 48

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Author: Nivi Manchanda
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108491235
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
An innovative exploration of how colonial interventions in Afghanistan have been made possible through representations of the country as 'backward'.

Author: John P. Wilson
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 9780471321880
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 522

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Book Description
Dieses Buch untersucht, welchen Einfluß Landschaftsformen, insbesondere Höhenunterschiede, auf die an der Erdoberfläche ablaufenden Prozesse haben. Wasserbewegungen, die Sonneneinstrahlung sowie die Bodenentwicklung und -erosion werden alle mehr oder minder durch die Form der Landschaftsoberfläche gesteuert. Die Anwendungsmöglichkeiten der Landschaftsanalyse sind vielfältig: Sie reichen von Studien über Wasserscheiden und Feuchtgebiete über Bodenkunde und Erosionsstudien, Landschafts- und Landnutzungsstudien bis zu geomorphologischer Forschung und regionalen und globalen Ökologiestudien. Darüber hinaus kann die Landschaftsanalyse auch zu meteorologischen Vorhersagen sowie bei Problemen mit TV- oder Radiosignalempfang eingesetzt werden. Dieses Forschungsgebiet hat in Verbindung mit den jüngsten Fortschritten auf dem Gebiet der GIS und GPS eine rasante Entwicklung durchlaufen. In diesem Band werden alle diese neuen Ansätze und Anwendungsbereiche umfassend erläutert. (y05/00)

Author: Anthony H. Cordesman
Publisher: Center for Strategic & International Studies
ISBN: 1442225009
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 179

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Book Description
After more than a decade of fighting in Afghanistan, the United States and its allies are set to transfer security responsibilities to Afghan forces in 2014. This transition poses many challenges, and much will depend on the future of Afghan politics, governance, corruption, development, security, and economics. How the United States manages the transition is vital for any hopes of creating a secure Afghanistan, as well as preventing the reemergence of the Taliban and other terrorist groups. The Afghan War in 2013 honestly assesses the benefits, costs, and risks involved in transition. It is essential reading for an in-depth understanding of the complex forces and intricacies of the United States’ role in Afghanistan and the difficulties involved in creating a stable Afghanistan in 2014 and beyond. Afghanistan is still at war and will probably be at war long after 2014. At the same time, the coming cuts in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and cuts in military and civil aid, along with the country’s fractious politics and insecurity, will interact with a wide range of additional factors that threaten to derail the transition. These factors, examined in this three-volume study, highlight the need to make the internal political, governmental, economic, and security dimensions of the transition as effective as possible. This will require a new degree of realism about what the Afghans can and cannot accomplish, about the best approaches to shaping the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), and the need for better planned and managed outside aid.