Staying in the Fight: How War on Terror Veterans in Congress Are Shaping US Defense Policy

A group of Congress members who were also military veterans of the War on Terror leapt into action to assist vulnerable people in Afghanistan who had aided the American war effort during the chaotic evacuation in 2021. They created hotlines and worked 24-hour shifts to save lives, coordinating between government agencies, informal networks of veterans groups, and contacts on the ground in Kabul. Many veteran lawmakers also became vocal critics of presidential management of the crisis and felt a moral obligation to act. Jeffrey S. Lantis' book Staying in the Fight: How War on Terror Veterans in Congress Are Shaping U.S. Defense Policy explores how policy interventions and activism by veterans on both sides of the aisle have shaped America's involvement in conflicts from Afghanistan to Ukraine. It is the first study of its kind to focus on this new generation of military veterans and their role in foreign and security policy decision-making.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 320 pages
Publication date: 06 August 2024
Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky

During the chaotic evacuation of the United States from Afghanistan in 2021, a group of Congress members who were also military veterans of the War on Terror leapt into action to assist vulnerable people in Afghanistan who had aided the American war effort. This cohort of legislators and their staffs on Capitol Hill created hotlines and worked 24-hour shifts in an intense effort to save lives, often coordinating between government agencies, informal networks of veterans groups, and contacts on the ground in Kabul. In the process, many veteran lawmakers also became vocal critics of presidential management of the crisis and said they felt a moral obligation to act. In Staying in the Fight: How War on Terror Veterans in Congress Are Shaping U.S. Defense Policy, author Jeffrey S. Lantis shines a spotlight on this cohort of legislators and their unique position in the American government. By using exclusive interview data, archival sources, statistics, process-tracing, and comparative case methodology, Lantis illustrates ways that policy interventions and activism by veterans on both sides of the aisle have shaped America's involvement in conflicts from Afghanistan to Ukraine. The first study of its kind to focus on this new generation of military veterans and their role in foreign and security policy decision-making, Staying in the Fight speaks directly to debates in civil-military relations, veterans studies, and research on congressional foreign policy advocacy.

Weight: 386g
Dimension: 228 x 152 x 19 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781985900400