"The author explores why we won decisive military victories in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya but then had no coherent plan to address the aftermath for each, ultimately costing thousands of lives and trillions of dollars, and whether now, with the benefit of hindsight, we can discern what happened and learn from it"-- Provided by publisher.

Introduction : why do we win the war but lose the peace? -- Kosovo : not perfect, but tolerable -- Afghanistan : a road to incoherence -- Iraq : the worst of all worlds -- Libya : a slippery slope -- Conclusion.