The Dogs Are Eating Them Now, Our War in Afghanistan
Canada, 2013, 298 pp., $32.99 CDN.
Ahmed Rashid on Pakistan’s Next Chapter
On September 12th Ahmed Rashid spoke to a well-attended and open gathering at CIPS (the Centre for International Policy Studies) at the University of Ottawa (sponsored by CIPS and the Fragile States Research Network). His topic was characteristically sweeping: “Pakistan’s Next Chapter”.
Private Military Companies under International Law: Combatants or Civilians?
When Canadian Master Corporal Josh Roberts was killed in Afghanistan in August 2008, he was reported to have been the victim of fire from a US-contracted Private Military Company (PMC). He died in chaotic circumstances involving coalition, Afghan security forces, members of…
The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict Between America and Al-Qaeda
Without a doubt future historians will label the first decade of the 21st millennium as one of war and violence, global in its scope and effect. The 2001 attacks in New York and northern Virginia, and the sadly flawed response both by…
Afghanistan and the Devil’s Deal
It’s been 10 years since the start of Operation Enduring Freedom, when the world stood as one with the United States. The Taliban’s Mullah Mohammed Omar had refused to hand over Osama bin Laden, offering instead to put him on trial in…
South Asian Trilogy: Personal Perspectives on Afghanistan, Pakistan and India
Canada’s death toll in Afghanistan stood at 157 at the time of writing. It is a sobering figure. The withdrawal of Canadian troops from Kandahar represented a milestone in our engagement with South Asia, but have we reflected on what was actually…
Enjeux, paradoxe et absence
Dans ma dernière chronique de bout, j’ai signalé que l’APASE souhaitait promouvoir une discussion sérieuse sur le rôle et l’avenir de notre profession. Paradoxalement, au moment de rédiger le présent texte, nous en sommes en pleine campagne électorale fédérale qui se caractérise…
Obama’s Wars
Bob Woodward is no stranger to anyone intrigued or fascinated by the American political process. Since he entered the world’s consciousness in 1972 with his riveting account of the Watergate scandal in All the President’s Men, he has produced on average a…
A Soldier First: Bullets, Bureaucrats and the Politics of War
I read General Rick Hillier’s A Soldier First with mixed feelings. I was impressed that our popular General came out with a book on his experience so soon after retirement, but I was disappointed that he did not explain his own role…
The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006–2008
Books dealing with military strategy or even military tactics are usually the work of retired generals who, in the softly glowing afterlife from the battlefields, update the records and correct historical judgements. These form their own literary genre and library shelves groan…
