America Quietly Starts Nation-Building in Parts of Syria
Government Executive | January 18, 2018
Announcing his new Afghanistan strategy in August, President Donald Trump insisted “we are not nation-building again.” The pledge made while increasing indefinitely the American commitment to the government in Kabul put him in the company of former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, who like Trump campaigned in part on rejecting the idea of nation-building. They also, like Trump, promptly surged troops and money into wars and reconstruction efforts overseas.