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Planning to Fail: The US Wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. By James H. Lebovic. New York: Oxford University Press, 2019. 256p. $34.95 cloth.

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listed in several clear, informative tables. In chapter 7, the author turns to the “Vision” plans of the GCC states, where he claims support for his underlying thesis by pointing… Click to show full abstract

listed in several clear, informative tables. In chapter 7, the author turns to the “Vision” plans of the GCC states, where he claims support for his underlying thesis by pointing to the prevalence of public– private partnerships (PPPs) as a tool in these plans. Although noting the combination of promised cuts in public spending and public sector employment, and the effects these cuts are bound to have on the private sector, Hanieh argues that by and large the largest capitalist actors are generally relatively isolated from the worst of this impact, and it is the smaller ones that suffer. With respect to his overall argument, the author makes the case that rather than simply “coping” with these pressures, the state capitalist elite is using the occasion to “make new markets” (p. 227). The final chapter uses the Qatar crisis (2017–) as an example of how the Gulf’s intertwining with the wider MENA region plays out in the sort of competition we have witnessed. Although the crisis has indeed obviously demonstrated an interconnection between Gulf politics and those of the wider region, this reviewer at least was not persuaded that one would glean a great deal from the book’s theoretical apparatus to help one understand the dynamics of this particular crisis. Yet, overall, this book is unquestionably a major, important, and impressively researched contribution to our understanding both of the Gulf’s political economy and its intertwining with that of the wider region and the globe. Anyone henceforth working in this field will need to engage with it.

Keywords: wars vietnam; afghanistan james; iraq afghanistan; fail wars; planning fail; vietnam iraq

Journal Title: Perspectives on Politics
Year Published: 2019

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