Military officials and national security experts analyze the American experience in Iraq and Afghanistan in the first decade of the twenty-first century, discussing the necessity of decentralizing command, the importance of airpower in counterinsurgency warfare, the role of public opinion in influencing military policy, and other topics.

Domestic politics and the long war /Peter D. Feaver -- Renegotiating the civil-military bargain after 9/11 / Mackubin Thomas Owens -- Centralization vs. decentralization : preparing for and practicing mission command in counterinsurgency operations / H.R. McMaster -- The Air Force and twenty-first-century conflicts : dysfunctional or dynamic? / Charles J. Dunlap, Jr. -- Strategy, counterinsurgency, and the Army / Robert Killebrew. Domestic politics and the long war / Peter D. Feaver -- Renegotiating the civil-military bargain after 9/11 / Mackubin Thomas Owens -- Centralization vs. decentralization : preparing for and practicing mission command in counterinsurgency operations / H.R. McMaster -- The Air Force and twenty-first-century conflicts : dysfunctional or dynamic? / Charles J. Dunlap, Jr. -- Strategy, counterinsurgency, and the Army / Robert Killebrew.