Staying the Unfavorable Course National Security Council Decisionmaking and the Inertia of U.S. Afghanistan Policy, 2001-2016
Abstract
From 2001 to 2021, the United States pursued an unchanging policy objective in Afghanistan: to prevent a terrorist group from using the country as a safe haven in which to plan or launch an attack on the United States. However, despite deteriorating conditions and no apparent hope of military victory, America's goals remained constant even as successive leaders experimented with different strategies to achieve them. The authors examined the reasons behind this policy inertia through interviews with the senior leaders involved in the policy deliberations between 2001 and 2016. The intent was to interview the decisionmakers involved in high-level discussions and policy formulation to establish the institutional, informational, and interpersonal dynamics that informed major decisions; capture common interpretations and assumptions; and reconstruct how the deliberative process functioned in practice.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 22, 2023
- Accession Number
- AD1193712
Entities
People
- Alexandra T. Evans
- Caitlin Mcculloch
- Jason H. Campbell
- Jordan R. Reimer
- Matthew Sargent
- Richard S. Girven
Organizations
- RAND Corporation