Where Less is More

For all of its problems, Afghanistan does not suffer from a dearth of coalition troops, according to Rory Stewart’s op-ed in the NYT. Citing the decline in security following a British troop increase in Helmand, Stewart’s finds virtue in maintaining a relatively light foreign footprint in Afghanistan. Because no major power will devote the hundreds of thousands of soldiers necessary to mount a successful counterinsurgency campaign, the United States and its partners should rely on “intelligence, pragmatic politics, savvy use of our development assistance and on special forces operations.”