A Democracy Is Born

Morgan, a former Army intelligence officer, author on current military issues, and graduate of the Harvard Business School, draws on his unusual career and his year's tour of duty in Afghanistan to challenge conventional wisdom. * MultiCultural Review * [A] fascinating narrative from the perspective of one who was there. Morgan's insight into the democratic development of Afghanistan permist readers to juxtapose the events in that nation with the conflict in Iraq. * Parameters * Morgan, a former US Army intelligence officer who was deployed for 11 months in Afghanistan, discusses the significance and security implications of the 2004 Afghan elections. He argues that they represented a serious blow to al-Quaeda and Taliban insurgents and marked a turning point for the country. * Survival * Drawn from the author's experiences in Afghanistan in 2004-05, this volume discusses security and intelligence aspects of conducting an election in conditions of terrorism and guerrilla warfare. Many of the anecdotes Morgan recounts have a turf-war flavor to them, as he describes being detached to the UN management of Afghanistan's presidential election of October 2004, won by Hamid Karzai. When not illustrating friction among the international entities--the UN, NATO, the U.S.-led military coalition, humanitarian NGOs, which were attempting to transform Afghanistan from its traditional tribalism into a democracy--Morgan imparts the customs of automobile driving in the country, bargaining in the bazaar, and other observations of daily life. These are Morgan's practical appeal, while his analysis of the intelligence function may be helpful, too, to members of American military services deploying to Afghanistan. Specialized to be sure, but a work professionally useful to its audience. * Booklist *

Matthew J. Morgan is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and has completed graduate work at Harvard Business School and the University of Hawai'i. He served six years in the U.S. Army intelligence, including a tour of Afghanistan in which he was awarded the Bronze Star, and he currently works as an Associate at McKinsey & Company. Morgan has served in a variety of teaching appointments at various institutions since 2002, including Assistant Professor of Government at Bentley College and Lecturer of Organizational and Political Communications at Emerson College. He is the author of over 30 articles on strategic and organizational issues and of the forthcoming book The American Military After 9/11 (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2008).