North Waziristan: A Reading List

Alex Strick Van Linschoten has posted a reading list for North Waziristan. A very comprehensive listing of books, reports, news articles, and websites.

www.alexstrick.com/a-different-place/2014/12/north-waziristan-a-reading-list

Maneuver Self Study Program - Afghanistan

The Maneuver Center of Excellence (MCoE) located at Fort Benning has a Self Study Program that covers several categories. One of these categories is Afghanistan. The program serves two purposes. One purpose is to prepare personnel for future deployments to Afghanistan. There are a number of references provided (a reading list) and there is a discussion forum. A second purpose is to glean lessons learned that may be applied to future conflicts where "U.S. forces may again be called upon to assist or intervene in weak states experiencing protracted instability or rebuilding after years of violence". If you are heading to Afghanistan for a deployment you may want to check the sit out at the link below.
www.benning.army.mil/mssp/Afghanistan/

Recommended Books for Afghan Deployments

A recent post on the "War On The Rocks" blog provides recommendations for books to read prior to an Afghan deployment. The blog post is entitled "Rebooting Country Studies" (published December 31, 2013) and discusses in general the types of books required by individuals studying a world region or country (possibly in preparation for a deployment). Within the context of the article are some books that are recommended if one is inclined to learn a little about how Afghanistan works. The books are by (you have to go to the middle of the article to read this) Taminm Ansary and include West of Kabul, East of New York and Games Without Rules: the Often Interrupted History of Afghanistan

Reading Lists for Afghanistan War

There are lots of recommended reading lists that have been compiled and disseminated over the past several years for the Afghan War.  Think tanks, government agencies, the Pentagon, and military units have all drawn up recommended books and publications for privates, generals, civilian contractors, State Department officials and others heading to Afghanistan.  A recent news article discusses the nature of the recommended books.  He compares the number of books published during the Vietnam era with the number of books published about the Afghan War - and notes that there was twice as many books published on Vietnam.  Not only that, but he notes that the main topic of books during the Vietnam era was about how wrong the war was, how badly it was being fought, and how to exit.  The majority of the books on Afghanistan are about how to fight the war better; specifically how to employ the doctrine of Counterinsurgency or COIN in Afghanistan.  Read his article here - "Getting the Right Read on America's Afghan War", CBS News, October 15, 2010.  See Amazon.com for a listing of books about counterinsurgency.