Cover Mission Botched
series "Contemporanea"
pp. 176, Brossura, 978-88-15-28585-0
publication year 2020

GASTONE BRECCIA

Mission Botched

The West’s Defeat in Afghanistan

On October 7, 2001 the United States attacked the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, at the time a recent creation of the Taliban movement that had hosted and protected the extremist al-Qaeda group and its leader Osama bin Laden, responsible for the attack on New York’s Twin Towers. Today, that war is coming to a close. The prospect of building a stable, democratic country, capable of integrating into the global economy, has long since vanished. The United States and its NATO allies have failed to beat back the resistance of the Taliban and produce order and security in Afghanistan; indeed, they have lost much of their military and political credibility.

Gastone Breccia teaches Byzantine History and Ancient Military History at the University of Pavia.

Premessa. I vivi e i morti
I. La long war: l’intervento militare occidentale in Afghanistan (2001-2019)
1. Colloqui di pace, 2011-2019
2. Guerra senza fine
3. La guerra sbagliata
4. I fuggitivi
5. «Assicurare il futuro dell’Afghanistan»
6. L’inutilità della forza
7. «Conquistare i cuori e le menti»
8. Il fallimento dei migliori
9. Exit strategy
II. L’Italia in Afghanistan (2003-2019)
1. Eufemismi
2. Regole d’ingaggio
3. La via maestra
4. «Resolute Support»
5. Nomi sulla pietra
III. Addio a Kabul
1. Nobili motivi
2. «They don’t stand a chance»
3. Il declino dell’impero americano
Conclusione. Dead end – strada senza uscita
Appendice. Gli Afghanistan Papers
Carte
Bibliografia
Indice dei nomi