This fall marks the 20th anniversary of US forces entering Afghanistan and, this month, the 18th anniversary of the Iraq invasion. With the last 2,500 American troops scheduled to soon leave Afghanistan, Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson, H. R. McMaster, and John Cochrane discuss lessons from that engagement, the future of US military intervention abroad, and whether “endless wars” can be avoided.
Recorded March 9, 2021
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Great political changes—revolutions and coups, democratic breakdowns and transitions—are often marked by dates when history turned. The “third wave” of global democratization is replete with such moments. It began in the early hours of 25 April 1974, when left-wing military officers in Portugal, fed up with corruption, stagnation, and debilitating wars to hang on to the country’s African colonies, overthrew the 48-year-old dictatorship.
October 29, 2026
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Democratic nations remain the foundation of a stable, prosperous, and humane world.
October 28, 2026
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An international court has filed charges against the men who run Afghanistan’s schools. Two women deprived of an education suggest what that is worth.
October 23, 2026
