Are the Forever Wars Really Forever?

America has been at war since the fall of 2001. There is no end in sight in Afghanistan, Mesopotamia and the Levant, and beyond. What political and strategic disincentives have stalled Washington’s ability to responsibly end its involvement in these wars under Republican and Democratic administrations? After spraying down our studio with grain alcohol to kill the virus afflicting the world (Everclear is the unofficial sponsor of this episode, as is an excellent northern Italian vineyard called Paltrinieri), we convened a great group to grapple with the forever wars: Paul Miller of Georgetown, Sarah Kreps of Cornell, and Will Ruger of the Charles Koch Institute and Foundation.

Further reading:

• Paul Miller, Withdrawal Deadlines in War (Atlantic Council, 2020)
• Sarah Kreps, Taxing Wars: The American Way of War Finance and the Decline of Democracy (Oxford University Press, 2018)
• Will Ruger, “With U.S. Strategy on the Rocks, We Are Supporting Fresh Perspectives Fresh Perspectives in Foreign Policy,” War on the Rocks
• Paul Miller, “How Does Jihadism End? Choosing Between Forever War and Nation Building,” War on the Rocks
• John Kaag and Sarah Kreps, Drone Warfare (Polity, 2014)
• Sarah Kreps, Coalitions of Convenience: United States Military Interventions after the Cold War (Oxford University Press, 2011)