Nearly eight years after the fall of the Taliban regime, Afghanistan struggles under the most brutal circumstances: corrupt and ineffective state institutions, thousands of miles of unguarded borders pervasive illiteracy and poverty, and a dysfunctional international alliance attempting to provide security for the country. Can “nation building” in the midst of a bloody insurgency succeed? What constitutes “success,” and what price should we be willing to pay for it? Does the United States have a compelling strategic rationale for remaining in Afghanistan?