In The Warlords’ Shadow: Village Stability Operations in Afghanistan

In 2010, U.S. Special Operations Forces began a new program to fight the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, the Village Stability Operations/Afghan Local Police Initiative. The initiative embedded Army Special Forces and Navy SEAL teams in villages throughout Afghanistan, moving from a top-down to a bottom-up strategy to provide security. 

In his new book In The Warlords’ Shadow: Special Operations Forces, the Afghans, and their Fight Against the Taliban, Daniel R. Green provides a first-hand account of how the initiative functioned in practice. 

Green is a Defense Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He is a reserve officer with the U.S. Navy and most recently served in Iraq (2015-2016) as a tribal and political engagement officer in Baghdad. Since 2001, he has held several senior advisory positions dealing with the Middle East, Central Asia, and NATO/Europe in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the State Department. 

In addition to his latest book In The Warlords’ Shadow, he has two other books: The Valley’s Edge: A Year with the Pashtuns in the Heartland of the Taliban and Fallujah Redux: The Anbar Awakening and the Struggle with al-Qaeda. 

Follow the discussion online using #AfghanSOF and following @NewAmericaISP. 

Participant: 

Daniel R. Green
Defense Fellow, Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Author, In The Warlords’ Shadow: Special Operations Forces, the Afghans, and their Fight Against the Taliban 

Moderator: 

John Dempsey
Fellow, New America International Security Program