Stephen Biddle discusses how domestic politics still clashes with strategic imperatives in U.S. Afghan policy.

The most realistic and acceptable alternative models of governance in Afghanistan are decentralized democracy and a system of internal mixed sovereignty.

Stephen Biddle examines recent combat experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq and argues that the efficacy of U.S. air power is constrained by the proficiency of indigenous allies on the ground.

Six CFR experts provide their own analysis of the Petraeus and Crocker testimony.

Stephen Biddle, CFR’s top military analyst on Iraq, says the only analytically sound alternatives in Iraq are to either pull out now, or to stick with a revamped “surge.”

The prognosis for Iraq looks bad and is getting worse. If the trend does not improve soon, the United States may have no choice but to cut its losses and get out. Recently, many have looked to the bipartisan Iraq Study Group to engineer a change in strategy that might arrest this decline, and the ISG's report does indeed contain some useful ideas and worthwhile recommendations. But on the whole, it offers the political groundwork for a complete withdrawal more than it offers a sustainable solution to the conflict.

Stephen Biddle examines recent combat experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq and argues that the efficacy of U.S. air power is constrained by the proficiency of indigenous allies on the ground.