Degrade and Destroy: How the U.S. Defeated the Islamic State?

Michael Gordon’s recently published book Degrade and Destroy provides the first authoritative account of how the U.S. and its partners planned and executed the campaign to destroy the Islamic State’s caliphate in Iraq and Syria. The book draws on extensive access to senior U.S. commanders and policymakers, the author’s experience with Iraqi and Kurdish units during the battle for Mosul, his reporting trips to Syria, internal U.S. memoranda and captured documents. Going beyond the news reports, Gordon will discuss the decisions that determined the course of the war, describe previously unknown episodes, and note its military and policy lessons for the future.

This event will be hosted in-person or on Zoom.