Bill,

I thought this short article was helpful, even if USA-centric:http://www.thestrategybridge.com/the...eat-leadership

The author's very slim bio on Twitter:
British / Australian mil officer + strategist. Conducting the 'Helmand Project' @ ANU Bell School; six year exploration of US, UK + Talib strategy in Afghanistan
He blames quite a few players:
Who is responsible for this absence of strategy? The sad fact is that all those who have participated in the Global War on Terror must share the blame. Politicians have certainly been central, mis-reading Clausewitz, seeing war as a simple extension of politics and ignoring its true nature, and hubristically believing their stated intentions of policy could pass for true strategy. The military also played its role, and is guilty of inflating both threats and capabilities for its own internal agendas, and fostering a conspiracy of optimism that removed failure (or even strategic withdrawal) as an option. Even the eternally well-meaning non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are not immune to criticism as they were slaved to the thriving, billion-dollar industry of international aid and reconstruction funding governments used to excuse their lack of strategic thought.