THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH-APRIL 2026 79 rightly observes were often starting from scratch. He captures the middle of the war accurately—a “reckless, almost casual affair” fought from U.S. bases that were a “surreal blend of primitive with futuristic.” But he also reports on the success of special operations forces in counter- terrorism operations, and elsewhere of the value of advisers to Afghan forces. A lengthy and painful chapter recounts the unavoidable contradictions in anti-drug operations, an impossible mission from the start given the economic driver of drugs in impoverished regions. With the wild mood swings of our force posture and strategy—from benign neglect to surge, and back to neglect again—one wonders from this body of reporting if a more consistent, Afghancentric strategy might have yielded a better outcome. The End of Nation-Building? This is a heavy read, especially for those who served in Afghanistan. By the middle of the book one can see where the plot is going and precious few paths out of it. But one hopes we will not overlearn the lessons of Afghanistan and assume there is no place we can be helpful to a nation in such a crisis, as it seems we may be doing. A contemporary nation-building project with Afghanistan was Colombia, which was largely successful. In a final chapter (“The End of the American Empire?”), Anderson references a conversation with British MP and Afghanistan expert Rory Stewart, who bemoans the total lack of continuity in America’s post-9/11 world view and global position compared to the consistency of the Cold War. “To see this lurch to isolationism that is so sudden that it practically destroys everything we’ve fought for together for 20 years is deeply disturbing,” Stewart says. Anderson concludes by noting: “The American era isn’t quite over, but it isn’t what it once was, either.” Keith Mines retired from the Foreign Service in 2019 after a 28-year career and served another five years as vice president for Latin America at the U.S. Institute of Peace. He did two postings to Afghanistan, in 2002 and 2012–2013. He is the author of Why NationBuilding Matters: Political Consolidation, Building Security Forces, and Economic Development in Failed and Fragile States (2020), reviewed in the April 2021 FSJ. Lessons in U.S. Foreign Policy Statecraft 2.0: What America Needs to Lead in a Multipolar World Dennis Ross, Oxford University Press, 2025, $21.95/paperback, e-book available, 496 pages. Reviewed by Joseph L. Novak Upset by misguided policies? Troubled by abruptly changing goals? Fed up with poor implementation? Fear not. Ambassador Dennis Ross’ new book, Statecraft 2.0, provides a tutorial on how to align objectives with means in foreign policy. It also offers in-depth case studies in successful as well as failed statecraft, while analyzing current U.S. foreign policy challenges. Ross is a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a professor at Georgetown University. A bipartisan figure, he has served in many national security positions, including as Middle East envoy during the Clinton administration and as director of policy planning at the State Department from 1989 to 1992. He has written several books; this one, his most recent, expands on his 2007 book Statecraft: And How to Restore America’s Standing in the World. The author defines statecraft as “knowing how best to integrate and use every asset or military, diplomatic, intelligence, media, economic, organizational, and psychological tool policymakers possess (or can manipulate) to meet their objectives.” While somewhat unwieldy, the definition is serviceable, with Ross using it to assess what works in foreign policy terms and what does not. As a former top diplomat, Ross understands that U.S. foreign policy is not made in a vacuum. Early on, he frames how Americans have traditionally looked at the U.S. role in global affairs by setting out the spectrum of realist, internationalist, and isolationist perspectives. Placing a spotlight on such scholars as Hans Morgenthau and Robert Kagan, he deftly sketches out how various schools and shadings of thought have shaped U.S. policymaking.
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