UConn PhD candidate David L. Evans has written an insightful article in response to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, which can be found on pages 48-51 of the latest issue of Passport, The Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR) Review. In “The United States Did Not Go to War in Afghanistan,” Evans, who served in the U.S. Marines between 2002-2010 was stationed in Afghanistan in 2008, describes the political and civic meanings of the U.S. military presence in Central Asia. In so doing, Evans brings into question what determines and qualifies as military conflict. Evans writes, “Put bluntly, over the last twenty years the involvement of most Americans when it came to Afghanistan and the wider wars on terror centered on performance and ritual. Honoring the troops and veterans remains the hollowed-out civic religion of the country.”

This article is a must-read. A job well done!

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