‘New Thinking’ in the Pentagon

Abstract

According to Thomas Ricks, the ‘Old War’ ended on 19 March 2005 – the date on which a marine squad in Iraq went on a killing spree after being attacked. These four fine books are about the profound learning process that is being experienced by the American security apparatus in order to find ways to address the ‘new wars’ in Iraq and Afghanistan and, indeed, in other parts of the world. The name of General Petraeus is associated with this learning process, although it has to be understood more as a social movement – changed perceptions that have bubbled up from junior-level officers frustrated by what was happening on the ground. One officer tells Linda Robinson that the US army consists of ‘Cold War generals, Bosnia colonels and Iraq captains’. General Petraeus’ role has been to empower the captains.