The agenda for our upcoming conference is now available here: http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/events/2010_conference/2010agenda.pdf

A registration form is being developed and will be available on our website soon. Please check our conference page periodically for updates: http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/events/2010_Conference/

Also, a block of hotel rooms has been reserved at a reduced rate of $99/night.  Please reserve your room by February 17th.  Reservation information available on our website: http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/events/2010_Conference/

Detailed conference information:

Lessons Learned, Lessons Lost: Counterinsurgency from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan

Sponsored by:
The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University
The Vietnam Center and Archive, Texas Tech University
& The Center for a New American Security

March 4th-5th, 2010
SAIS Kenney Auditorium
1740 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

“You have to learn from history,” President Obama recently observed. “On the other hand, each historical moment is different. You never step into the same river twice. And so Afghanistan is not Vietnam.” [New York Times, September 13, 2009]

Perhaps not. But Vietnam is certainly a reference point for many Americans as the war in Afghanistan approaches its ninth year. Comparing Vietnam and Afghanistan is a popular and sometimes lucrative undertaking for scores of historians, journalists and politicians. Google “Vietnam-Afghanistan” and you get about 36 million returns. Analogies abound; analysts debate. What are the lessons of Vietnam? What can we learn about counterinsurgency from our experience in Vietnam? Does Vietnam offer important insights to guide counterinsurgency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan? Have we already applied our Vietnam experience in these conflicts? Or are Iraq and Afghanistan so unique as to defy comparison with past insurgencies?

This conference asks what we should have learned about counterinsurgency from Vietnam and whether, or how, these lessons are being exploited in today’s conflicts. Military experts and civilian analysts will debate these questions and more over two days at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies on March 4 and 5. You are most cordially invited to join the discussion.