Descent into Chaos or Guests of the Ayatollah

Descent into Chaos: The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia

Author: Ahmed Rashid

The #1 New York Times bestselling author provides a shocking analysis of the crisis in Pakistan and the renewed radicalism threatening Afghanistan and the West.

Ahmed Rashid is "Pakistan's best and bravest reporter" (Christopher Hitchens). His unique knowledge of this vast and complex region allows him a panoramic vision and nuance that no Western writer can emulate.

His book Taliban first introduced American readers to the brutal regime that hijacked Afghanistan and harbored the terrorist group responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Now, Rashid examines the region and the corridors of power in Washington and Europe to see how the promised nation building in these countries has pro-gressed. His conclusions are devastating: An unstable and nuclear-armed Pakistan, a renewed al' Qaeda profiting from a booming opium trade, and a Taliban resurgence and reconquest. While Iraq continues to attract most of American media and military might, Rashid argues that Pakistan and Afghanistan are where the conflict will finally be played out and that these failing states pose a graver threat to global security than the Middle East.

Benazir Bhutto's assassination and the crisis in Pakistan are only the beginning. Rashid assesses what her death means for the region and the future. Rashid has unparalleled access to the figures in this global drama, and provides up-to-the-minute analysis better than anyone else. Descent Into Chaos will do for Central Asia what Thomas Rick's Fiasco did for Iraq - offer a blistering critique of the Bush administration and an impassioned call to correct our failed strategy in the region.

Publishers Weekly

"Iraq may turn out to be a mere side show compared with what is at stake with Pakistan and Afghanistan," says Rashid in his critical, timely and expansive book (the introduction alone takes up almost an entire disc). Arthur Morey walks a thin line: his overall success conveying the information in this weighty tome without sounding like a monotone college professor is a credit to his talent. Morey's voice is calm, authoritative and confident. His diction is perfect and his mannered delivery never loses steam. Nevertheless, even with an important book such as this, it is difficult to convey this quantity of factual information in a way that doesn't eventually begin to drone on. Morey fights the good fight and comes out ahead, barely. A Viking hardcover (Reviews, Apr. 14). (July)

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Table of Contents:

Maps

Countries and Cities of Central Asia

Ethnic Distribution Within Pakistan and Afghanistan

Afghan Provinces and Federally Administered Tribal Areas

NATO Deployment and Provincial Reconstruction Team Locations in Afghanistan, 2007

Opium Poppy Cultivation in Afghanistan, 2007

Military Offensives Launched by the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan, 2007-2008

Glossary

Acronyms

Introduction: Imperial Overreach and Nation Building

Part 1 9/11 and War

1 A Man With a Mission: The Unending Conflict in Afghanistan 3

2 "The U.S. Will Act Like a Wounded Bear": Pakistan's Long Search for Its Soul 24

3 The Chief Executive's Schizophrenia: Pakistan, the United Nations, and the United States Before 9/11 44

4 Attack!: Retaliation and Invasion 61

5 The Search for a Settlement: Afghanistan and Pakistan at Odds 84

Part 2 The Politics of the Post-9/11 World

6 A Nuclear State of Mind: India, Pakistan, and the War of Permanent Instability 109

7 The One-Billion-Dollar Warlords: The War Within Afghanistan 125

8 Musharraf's Lost Moment: Political Expediency and Authoritarian Rule 145

Part 3 The Failure of Nation Building

9 Afghanistan I: Economic Reconstruction 171

10 Afghanistan II: Rebuilding Security 196

11 Double-Dealing with Islamic Extremism: Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan 219

12 Taliban Resurgent: The Taliban Return Home 240

Part 4 Descent Into Chaos

13 Al Qaeda's Bolt-Hole: Pakistan's Tribal Areas 265

14 America Shows the Way: The Disappeared and the Rendered 293

15 Drugs and Thugs: Opium Fuels the Insurgency 317

16 Who Lost Uzbekistan?: Tyranny in Central Asia 338

17 TheTaliban Offensive: Battling for Control of Afghanistan, 2006-2007 349

18 Conclusion: The Death of an Icon and a Fragile Future 374

Acknowledgments 405

Notes 407

Suggested Reading 457

Index 463

Book about: Absolute Beginners Guide to Computer Basics or Access 2007 For Dummies

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