CSS A&M Presentation

Take a look at the Afghanistan Assumptions Project’s Presentation + Q&A that took place at A&M’s Bush School of Government & Public Service on 2/14/24. Our co-directors, Michael Cohen and Christopher Preble, PhD focused on two pivotal aspects of the Afghan conflict and U.S. foreign policy.

First, they looked back at the US decision to go to war in Afghanistan, with a particular focus on how U.S. officials, especially President George W. Bush, framed the 9/11 attacks and the US response in black-and-white terms. This decision limited US strategic options, led to an aggressive counterterrorism policy that targeted the Taliban and made political reconciliation and stability in Afghanistan impossible.

Second, they dived into the consequences of conflating the Taliban with Al-Qaeda — and treating these two very different groups as if they were one and the same with identical strategic objectives. The initial success of the U.S. invasion followed with overlooked opportunities for reconciliation, including an aborted Taliban surrender in 2001 that could have put Afghanistan — and the United States — on a very different and more peaceful path. Instead, these strategic errors created more regional instability and prolonged conflict in Afghanistan.

This event offers a deep dive into often unexplored aspects of the Afghan war — and their relevance to current conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.