Why has the war in Afghanistan been so drawn out? Why does progress on the ground or even the hope of it seem impossible? Some answers lie in Joel Hafvenstein’s Opium Season: A Year on the Afghan Frontier. Published in 2007, the book describes his experiences as a member of a USAID development team charged with dissuading Afghans from working in poppy fields. The obstacles Hafvenstein and his team faced are emblematic of a much larger set of problems in the region.