Foreign Policy Research Institute A Nation Must Think Before it Acts A Vulcan’s Tale: How the Bush Administration Mismanaged the Reconstruction of Afghanistan

A Vulcan’s Tale: How the Bush Administration Mismanaged the Reconstruction of Afghanistan

  • July 27, 2011
The Hon. Dov S. Zakheim

Vice Chairman of the Foreign Policy Research Institute


A firsthand account of how the Bush administration mismanaged its Afghan campaign, A Vulcan’s Tale shines 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 administration’s 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 DoD’s coordinator for Afghan civilian reconstruction in 2002. In A Vulcan’s 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.

Dov Zakheim, Vice Chairman of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, is a senior fellow at the CNA Corporation, senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and a member of the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is former Undersecretary of Defense.

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