The U.S. vs. al Qaeda: A History of the War on Terror

“With Osama bin Laden dead and al Qaeda discredited and on the run, the terrorists clearly did not win. But neither did we,” writes Editor Gideon Rose in the introductory chapter of this new collection of essays from the pages of Foreign Affairs. Released to coincide with the 10th anniversary of 9/11, The U.S. vs. al Qaeda offers a history of the war on terror through three decades of the best Foreign Affairs coverage on the subject.

The eBook features previously published essays by thinkers such as Princeton University’s Bernard Lewis, Fouad Ajami of Johns Hopkins University, and Afghanistan expert Ahmed Rashid, as well as newer voices, including the Norwegian defense analyst Brynjar Lia and William McCants, an expert on al Qaeda at the Center for Naval Analyses. A documents section supplements the essays with major speeches by President George W. Bush—for instance, his January 2002 State of the Union Address and his September 2002 National Security Strategy, which codified the administration’s new foreign policy—as well as statements by President Barack Obama, private correspondence between Osama bin Laden and his deputies, and pivotal U.S. legislation.

This collection is an indispensable guide for understanding the war on terror and how it has transformed U.S. foreign policy.