Middle East Studies at the Marine Corps University: MES Insights, Volume 13 Issue 2, April 2022   [open pdf - 130KB]

This edition of the MES Insights published by the Middle East Studies (MES) program of the Marine Corps University contains the following article: "Society-Centric Warfare: Lessons from Afghanistan and Ukraine" by Amin Tarzin. From the document: "This article briefly compares the unexpected resilience of the Ukrainian people and government facing a much larger force committing a vicious military campaign with the failure of the much larger and better-equipped Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) to stop the Taliban from taking over the Afghan capital of Kabul in a few days. What is missing from the dialogue is the often-forgotten dimension of strategic calculations--namely the societal dimension. In this article, the author argues that this is one of the primary reasons that Ukraine stands tall in its resistance and Afghanistan collapsed."