“It’s hard to recall a time in American history when more was spent to accomplish less.” This description of the war in Afghanistan comes from a veteran of that war and our guest speaker, Erik Edstrom. In this webinar Erik will discuss his debut book, Un-American: A Soldier’s Reckoning of our Longest War. He’ll explain how blind support for war exacerbates the problems it’s intended to resolve, devastates the people allegedly being helped, and diverts assets from far larger threats like climate change.

Erik Edstrom grew up in Stoughton and graduated from West Point in 2007. He was then deployed to Afghanistan, where he served as an infantry platoon leader. Erik spent the remainder of his service as the Presidential Escort Platoon Leader during the Obama administration. He is a graduate of U.S. Army Ranger School, recipient of the Rippetoe Trophy during The Best Ranger Competition, was selected for the U.S. Special Forces (SFAS), and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal.

After the military, Erik went on to earn both an MBA and a Master of Science, studying climate change, from Oxford University. After graduate school, Erik moved to Australia for five years, where he worked as a management consultant for both Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and McKinsey & Company. He lives in Boston and is a new member of Massachusetts Peace Action.

Watch a video conversation with Erik.