Donald Stoker was Professor of Strategy and Policy for the US Naval War College's Monterey Program at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, from 1999 until 2017. The author or editor of eleven books, his Clausewitz: His Life and Work (2014), is on the British Army professional reading list.

• 1. Are we at war? What do we want? And do we want to win?; 2. The way we think about war (particularly limited war) is broken: here is how we fix it; 3. The political objective: why nations fight (limited) wars; 4. Constraints: or why wars for limited aims are so difficult; 5. Strategy: how to think about fighting for a limited political objective; 6. And you thought the war was hard: ending the war and securing the peace; Conclusion: is history rhyming?

'At a time when threats to national and international security are increasing, Donald Stoker has produced a work vital to regaining the competence necessary to win in war. He exposes fundamental misunderstandings concerning the nature of 'limited' war - misunderstandings that have undermined America's ability to fight, to defeat enemies, to consolidate gains, and to achieve sustainable outcomes consistent with war aims. This is a book that should be read not only by students of military and diplomatic history but also by those in government charged with the development of national security policy. Citizens of democratic nations should read Why America Loses Wars so that they might demand strategies that achieve outcomes in war consistent with vital interests and worthy of the costs in blood and treasure.' H. R. McMaster, author of Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam

Donald Stoker was Professor of Strategy and Policy for the US Naval War College's Monterey Program at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, from 1999 until 2017. The author or editor of eleven books, his Clausewitz: His Life and Work (2014), is on the British Army professional reading list.

• 1. Are we at war? What do we want? And do we want to win?; 2. The way we think about war (particularly limited war) is broken: here is how we fix it; 3. The political objective: why nations fight (limited) wars; 4. Constraints: or why wars for limited aims are so difficult; 5. Strategy: how to think about fighting for a limited political objective; 6. And you thought the war was hard: ending the war and securing the peace; Conclusion: is history rhyming?

'At a time when threats to national and international security are increasing, Donald Stoker has produced a work vital to regaining the competence necessary to win in war. He exposes fundamental misunderstandings concerning the nature of 'limited' war - misunderstandings that have undermined America's ability to fight, to defeat enemies, to consolidate gains, and to achieve sustainable outcomes consistent with war aims. This is a book that should be read not only by students of military and diplomatic history but also by those in government charged with the development of national security policy. Citizens of democratic nations should read Why America Loses Wars so that they might demand strategies that achieve outcomes in war consistent with vital interests and worthy of the costs in blood and treasure.' H. R. McMaster, author of Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam

Donald Stoker was Professor of Strategy and Policy for the US Naval War College's Monterey Program at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, from 1999 until 2017. The author or editor of eleven books, his Clausewitz: His Life and Work (2014), is on the British Army professional reading list.

• 1. Are we at war? What do we want? And do we want to win?; 2. The way we think about war (particularly limited war) is broken: here is how we fix it; 3. The political objective: why nations fight (limited) wars; 4. Constraints: or why wars for limited aims are so difficult; 5. Strategy: how to think about fighting for a limited political objective; 6. And you thought the war was hard: ending the war and securing the peace; Conclusion: is history rhyming?

'At a time when threats to national and international security are increasing, Donald Stoker has produced a work vital to regaining the competence necessary to win in war. He exposes fundamental misunderstandings concerning the nature of 'limited' war - misunderstandings that have undermined America's ability to fight, to defeat enemies, to consolidate gains, and to achieve sustainable outcomes consistent with war aims. This is a book that should be read not only by students of military and diplomatic history but also by those in government charged with the development of national security policy. Citizens of democratic nations should read Why America Loses Wars so that they might demand strategies that achieve outcomes in war consistent with vital interests and worthy of the costs in blood and treasure.' H. R. McMaster, author of Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam