Unwinnable Wars: Afghanistan and the limits of western military power

The 2017 Michael Hintze lecture presented by the Centre for International Security Studies At sixteen years and counting, Afghanistan is the longest war for western states of the post-Cold War period, and NATO’s first overseas war. At its height, the US and its NATO allies deployed 130,000 troops in its efforts to stabilise the country. NATO combat forces withdrew by December 2014 having failed to defeat the Taliban insurgency. Professor Theo Farrell explores what went wrong in Afghanistan and teases out the lessons for the utility of western military power. He argues that whilst Afghanistan demonstrates that western militaries are able to develop the capabilities to achieve tactical success in counterinsurgency wars, they are unable to translate battlefield gains into strategic success due to the intrinsic political challenges of such conflicts. He then goes on to explore how military culture limits the effectiveness of the NATO mission in Afghanistan. And concludes on the prospects for peace in Afghanistan and on the future of western military intervention. Held as part of Sydney Ideas on 26 October 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/michael_hintze_lecture_theo_farrell.shtml