ABSTRACT
American national security is in a transition that began with the end of the Cold War, was jolted by the events of 9/11, and continues to be buffeted by external traumas from terrorists to developing world internal conflicts and the vicissitudes of United States (US) politics. In Afghanistan, American active participation continues, and the future prospects for governance in that far-off land remain sufficiently opaque that it is hard to predict which American objectives will have been attained when the US leaves. Among the beguiling characteristics of uncertainty about the future are the variable influences that might affect that future environment. The condition of enormous ideological antipathy and rancor between political elements and individuals within the US manifests itself as fundamental disagreement across the board on policy and has produced public policy gridlock. Fiscal responsibility became a political shibboleth of essentially all political factions after the Great Recession of 2008.
