Dov S. Zakheim : A Vulcans Tale
A firsthand account of how the Bush administration mismanaged its Afghan campaign,A Vulcans Taleshines new and important light on the events and people behind the headlines in the immediate years following the September 11 attacks.
The Vulcans, so named by Condoleezza Rice, were eight foreign policy experts who advised George W. Bush during his 2000 presidential campaign. After Bush assumed the presidency, the Vulcans helped shape the administrations foreign policy following 9/11, including the military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. All were veterans of past administrations, having served under either Ronald Reagan or George H.W. Bush, and they included among their ranks Dov Zakheim. Made comptroller and chief financial officer for the Department of Defense in 2001, Zakheim was also named the DoDs coordinator for Afghan civilian reconstruction in 2002.
InA Vulcans Tale, Zakheim draws on his own participation and intimate knowledge to analyze how the United States missed critical opportunities while it struggled to manage two wars, particularly the seemingly endless endeavor in Afghanistan. In his view, the Bush administrations disappointing results in Afghanistan were partly attributable to the enormity of the challenges, certainly. But flawed leadership and deficiencies of management, understanding, and forethought all played their parts as well.
The power of the purse proved to be especially damaging. The Office of Management and Budget was slow to fund Defenses efforts at the outset of the Afghan conflict and then inadequately funded the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, casting the die for several additional years of conflict. The invasion of Iraq siphoned off critical resources for Afghanistan, thereby further complicating that countrys reconstruction.
Even with public policy of the highest order, the devil still lurked in the details, as the DoDs money man was soon to discover while he struggled to fund and manage the reconstruction of civilian Afghanistan.A Vulcans Taleis an authoritative, candid but fair account of how a wise and admirable goal can be waylaid by insufficient funding and ineffective coordination, with the result of faultyor, at best, incompleteimplementation.
Praise for the book:
A Vulcans Taleis a lively and absorbing read. Dov Zakheim has spent decades working closely with the men and women who made U.S. foreign policy under George W. Bush. His tale of why the reconstruction of Afghanistan fell so short has the impact and credibility that only an insiders account can. But well beyond Afghanistan, this is a book for anyone who seeks to understand why our policy reach so often exceeds our grasp.
Anne-Marie Slaughter, Princeton University, former director of policy planning at the U.S. Department of State
Dov Zakheim is someone I have known and admired for many years. Make no mistake, this is a fascinating tale told by someone who not only is good at recounting a story that will be debated for many years to come, but also because he is honest to a fault. Zakheim takes the reader through the many twists and turns in the development of national policy that cost the United States dearly in terms of our most precious resources.
General James L. Jones, US MC (ret.), former national security adviser, former commander European Command, former commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps
Zakheim has produced a must-read for policymakers and students of statecraft alike. In readable prose, he provides a reflective insiders account and analysis of the cost of lack of alignment between policy and implementation during the Bush administration. He convincingly argues that Afghanistans tragedy was avoidable and that the inherited processes and structures of decisionmaking in Washington must change if the use of instruments of U.S. power is going to lead to productive outcomes for the world and the American public.
Ashraf Ghani, chairman, Afghan Transition Coordination Commission and former minister of finance, Afghanistan
A Vulcans Taleby Dov Zakheim is a great contribution to the memoirs emerging from the war on terrorism. Zakheim had two full-time jobs: He was the Pentagons comptroller and its reconstruction coordinator. The reader will learn about the bureaucratic politics of financial management, the perils of nation-building, and the fascinating world of international fundraising. An outstanding tale, frankly told.
Joseph J. Collins, professor of national security strategy, National War College, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for stability operations
This vivid and sobering account of intervention and nation-building experiences should be compulsory reading for policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic.
Ana Palacio, former foreign affairs minister of Spain, former senior vice president and general counsel of the World Bank Group
The book is available to buy from Amazon.co.uk (click here).
Dov S. Zakheim attained a DPhil in Politics & Economics at Oxford (1974).
