About News The High Costs of a Precipitous US Withdrawal from Afghanistan Jan 04, 2020 John Ciorciari, Phil Potter, Javed Ali, and Ryan Van Wie The High Costs of a Precipitous US Withdrawal from Afghanistan © Getty ImagesAs we enter into a new decade, America has been at war in Afghanistan for almost twenty years — the longest conflict in U.S. history. What started in the immediate aftermath of the al Qaeda terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, as a counterterrorism mission has morphed into something more ambitious but less well defined and, ultimately, less successful. The costs have been staggering — more than 2,000 U.S. service members have died in Afghanistan, over 15,000 have been injured, and — according to some estimates — U.S. spending may have totaled over $2 trillion. Americans — from foreign policy elites in Washington to the general public — understandably want to see this chapter brought to a close. But history warns of the consequences when the United States leaves a conflict precipitously before the foundations for an acceptable political settlement are in place. In 1975, when the U.S. military withdrew fully from Vietnam, communist forces quickly overran a weak South Vietnamese government. If the Taliban were to sweep similarly to victory, harrowing human rights abuses could follow, and all our investments of blood and treasure could be undone. READ FULL ARTICLE IN THE HILL Philip Potter Philip Potter is an associate professor of politics and Founding Director of the National Security Policy Center at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. He is also a University Expert with the National Ground Intelligence Center, US Army INSCOM. He has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Politics and the Journal of Global Security Studies and is an Associate Principal Investigator for Time-Sharing Experiments in the Social Sciences (TESS). Read full bio Related Content Philip Potter Honor Among Thieves: Understanding Rhetorical and Material Cooperation Among Violent Nonstate Actors Research We find that when groups share an ideology, and especially a religion, they are more likely to sustain material cooperation in the face of state repression. Batten Professors Discuss Escalation of Conflict in Ukraine News Batten School professors Philip Potter and Allan Stam note that the conflict in Ukraine has bolstered the NATO alliance, which may give China pause if it’s thinking of moving on Taiwan. Space Norms and U.S. National Security: Leading on Space Debris News In a new article for the online national security magazine War on the Rocks, Batten's Philip Potter, George W. Foresman and University of Pennsylvania's Michael Horowitz write that, given the rapid change of pace and recent developments in space, technical and operational standards and norms of behavior will be necessary to maintain a secure and sustainable domain. Stay Up To Date with the Latest Batten News and Events Subscribe
Philip Potter Philip Potter is an associate professor of politics and Founding Director of the National Security Policy Center at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. He is also a University Expert with the National Ground Intelligence Center, US Army INSCOM. He has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Politics and the Journal of Global Security Studies and is an Associate Principal Investigator for Time-Sharing Experiments in the Social Sciences (TESS). Read full bio
Honor Among Thieves: Understanding Rhetorical and Material Cooperation Among Violent Nonstate Actors Research We find that when groups share an ideology, and especially a religion, they are more likely to sustain material cooperation in the face of state repression.
Batten Professors Discuss Escalation of Conflict in Ukraine News Batten School professors Philip Potter and Allan Stam note that the conflict in Ukraine has bolstered the NATO alliance, which may give China pause if it’s thinking of moving on Taiwan.
Space Norms and U.S. National Security: Leading on Space Debris News In a new article for the online national security magazine War on the Rocks, Batten's Philip Potter, George W. Foresman and University of Pennsylvania's Michael Horowitz write that, given the rapid change of pace and recent developments in space, technical and operational standards and norms of behavior will be necessary to maintain a secure and sustainable domain.