Why America Loses Wars

Limited War and US Strategy from the Korean War to the Present

How can you achieve victory in war if you don't have a clear idea of your political objectives and a vision of what victory means? In this provocative challenge to US policy and strategy, Donald Stoker argues that America endures endless wars because its leaders no longer know how to think about war, particularly limited wars. He reveals how ideas on limited war and war in general evolved against the backdrop of American conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq. These ideas, he shows, were flawed and have undermined America's ability to understand, wage, and win its wars and to secure peace afterward. America's leaders have too often taken the nation to war without understanding what they want or valuing victory, leading to the "forever wars" of today. Why America Loses Wars dismantles 70 years of misguided thinking and lays the foundations for a new approach to the wars of tomorrow.

©2019 Donald Stoker (P)2021 Tantor