Introduction : the self-sustaining overreach : hubris, self-interest, and America's failed war in Afghanistan -- PART I. THE STRUCTURAL WEIGHT OF REALISM : FOREIGN SECURITY INTERESTS AND THE US ENTANGLEMENT IN AFGHANISTAN. US Cold War and post-Cold War policy : a volatile and security-driven interest for the Afghan pawn -- Operation Enduring Freedom : a campaign in search for strategic coherence -- Pouring the US-led coalition's resources in a bottomless pit : Pakistan's predictable double game -- PART II. TOWARDS THE SELF-SUSTAINING OVERREACH : GRANDIOSE PROJECTS, STRUCTURAL AMBIGUITIES, AND QUESTIONABLE SUSTAINABILITY. The promises and profound ambiguities of the US-led coalition's democratization agenda -- The promises and profound ambiguities of the US-led reconstruction and state-building agenda -- The price of intractable contradictions : a seemingly unending security degradation -- PART III. THE OBAMA ERA : A FINAL SHOWDOWN TO SECURE A "DECENT INTERVAL?" The Obama Era : new intentions, same old strategic horizon -- The surge : disappointing results and unaltered path to withdrawal -- Afghanistan in 2015 : betrayed promises? -- Conclusion.