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Jacob Stokes

Jacob Stokes is a policy analyst at the National Security Network and editor of the international affairs blog DemocracyArsenal.org.

Recent Articles

Pruning the Pentagon

Jacob StokesJan 06, 2012
(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Conflict's Resolution

The end of the Iraq War marks a victory for progressives, but tough work lies ahead.

Jacob StokesDec 15, 2011

Earlier this week, President Barack Obama stood with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in the South Court Auditorium of the White House to announce that “a war is ending.” Two days later, the president visited Fort Bragg to offer an encomium to post-9/11 veterans. “Your service belongs to the ages,” he told the assembled troops.

By the end of the year, all U.S. combat troops in Iraq will have slipped across the border into Kuwait, and America’s war in Iraq will be over.

Troop Think

The drawdown in Afghanistan only highlights the problems that we haven't resolved.

Jacob StokesJun 22, 2011
(Flickr/U.S. Army)

This evening, President Barack Obama is set to announce his plan for withdrawing troops from Afghanistan. The speech comes just weeks before the July 2011 deadline for beginning the drawdown of American forces, which the president set when he announced the 30,000-troop "surge" in December 2009.

With Osama bin Laden out of the picture, both conservatives and liberals -- including Prospect contributor Matthew Yglesias -- have pressured the president to expedite the pullout. Others, including outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates and, reportedly, General David Petraeus, have argued for a slower reduction. But as Americans debate the speed of the drawdown, other important questions have been put on the backburner.