Are we winning? Combatants often find themselves asking this question, especially during today's protracted asymmetrical conflicts where victory and defeat are not clear or easy to measure. Also, too often politics or wishful thinking take the place of objective assessment. Assessing War explores how the trajectory of war has been analyzed in conflicts throughout American history. The book brings together military historians, political scientists, and military officers to examine wartime assessment in theory, in practice through historical and contemporary cases, and through alternative dimensions of assessment such as justice and proportionality, the war of ideas, and economics. The cases start with the Seven Year's War and cover all major US conflicts through the war in Afghanistan. There are also unique examinations of how Al Qaeda has assessed its war on the United States and how assessment might be conducted in cyber war. Wartime assessment is critical because forming an accurate picture is essential to developing the right strategy. This book concludes with advice for practitioners about best approaches, though it also offers sobering conclusions about the difficulty of assessing war objectively and without politicization or self delusion.

Foreword /by Gen. George W. Casey, Jr. -- Introduction : -- The challenge of wartime assessment / Leo J. Blanken and Jason J. Lepore -- Theory -- Principals, agents, and assessment / Leo J. Blanken and Jason J. Lepore -- Civil-military relations and assessments / Hy Rothstein -- Wartime strategic assessment : concepts and challenges / Scott Sigmund Gartner -- Historical cases -- Assessing proxy forces : a case study of the early years of the Seven Years' War (1754-1763) in North America / John Grenier -- Assessing war : the revolutionary war / Edward G. Lengel -- Assessing enemy civilian will : the United States goes to war, 1861 / Brooks D. Simpson -- "Keep 'em moving" : the role of assessment in US cavalry operations against the Plains Indians / Colonel Michael Richardson -- Assessing the Philippine War / Brian Mcallister Linn -- Putting the fuse to the powder : strategic assessment in the First World War / Scott Stephenson -- Assessment in World War II / Gerhard l. Weinberg -- Measuring gains on the battle field and at the peace table : shifting assessments during the Korean War / Conrad C. Crane -- Choosing progress : evaluating the 'salesmanship' of the Vietnam War in 1967 / Gregory A. Daddis -- Current cases -- Assessing counterinsurgency : the Iraq War, 2004-05 / Major General Bill C. Hix and Kalev I. Sepp -- Circular logic and constant progress : IW assessments in Afghanistan / Alejandro S. Hernandez, Julian Ouellet, and Christopher J. Nannini -- Monitoring from afar : how Al Qaeda assesses its progress / Mark Stout -- Alternative dimensions of assessment -- Assessment, proportionality, and justice in war -- Bradley J. Strawser and Russell Muirhead -- Assessing cyber war / Dorothy E. Denning -- Assessing the war of ideas during war / Robert Reilly -- Assessment of economic outcomes in nation-building operations / Aric P. Shafran -- Conclusion : Can we learn from the assessment of war? / Anthony H. Cordesman and Hy Rothstein. Foreword / by Gen. George W. Casey, Jr. -- Introduction -- The challenge of wartime assessment / Leo J. Blanken and Jason J. Lepore -- Theory -- Principals, agents, and assessment / Leo J. Blanken and Jason J. Lepore -- Civil-military relations and assessments / Hy Rothstein -- Wartime strategic assessment : concepts and challenges / Scott Sigmund Gartner -- Historical cases -- Assessing proxy forces : a case study of the early years of the Seven Years' War (1754-1763) in North America / John Grenier -- Assessing war : the revolutionary war / Edward G. Lengel -- Assessing enemy civilian will : the United States goes to war, 1861 / Brooks D. Simpson -- "Keep 'em moving" : the role of assessment in US cavalry operations against the Plains Indians / Colonel Michael Richardson -- Assessing the Philippine War / Brian Mcallister Linn -- Putting the fuse to the powder : strategic assessment in the First World War / Scott Stephenson -- Assessment in World War II / Gerhard l. Weinberg -- Measuring gains on the battle field and at the peace table : shifting assessments during the Korean War / Conrad C. Crane -- Choosing progress : evaluating the 'salesmanship' of the Vietnam War in 1967 / Gregory A. Daddis -- Current cases -- Assessing counterinsurgency : the Iraq War, 2004-05 / Major General Bill C. Hix and Kalev I. Sepp -- Circular logic and constant progress : IW assessments in Afghanistan / Alejandro S. Hernandez, Julian Ouellet, and Christopher J. Nannini -- Monitoring from afar : how Al Qaeda assesses its progress / Mark Stout -- Alternative dimensions of assessment -- Assessment, proportionality, and justice in war -- Bradley J. Strawser and Russell Muirhead -- Assessing cyber war / Dorothy E. Denning -- Assessing the war of ideas during war / Robert Reilly -- Assessment of economic outcomes in nation-building operations / Aric P. Shafran -- Conclusion -- Can we learn from the assessment of war? / Anthony H. Cordesman and Hy Rothstein.