Descent into Chaos

by Rashid, Ahmed

• ISBN13: 9780143115571
• ISBN10: 014311557X
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-04-07
• Publisher: Penguin Group USA

Summary

After September 11th, Ahmed Rashid's crucial book Taliban introduced us to that now notorious regime. In his new work, "Pakistan's best and bravest reporter" (Christopher Hitchens) examines Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia as well as the corridors of power in Washington and Europe to see how the promised nation building has progressed. His conclusions are devastating: an unstable and nucleararmed Pakistan, a renewed Al Qaeda, and a Taliban resurgence and reconquest. As he predicted, Pakistan and Afghanistan are now where the real war is. His blistering critique of American policy is a dire warning and an impassioned call to correct our failed strategies. There is no more urgent global task. Book jacket.

Table of Contents

Maps
Countries and Cities of Central Asia	p. xvi-xvii
Ethnic Distribution Within Pakistan and Afghanistan	p. xviii
Afghan Provinces and Federally Administered Tribal Areas	p. xix
NATO Deployment and Provincial Reconstruction Team Locations in Afghanistan, 2007	p. xx
Opium Poppy Cultivation in Afghanistan, 2007	p. xxi
Military Offensives Launched by the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan, 2007-2008	p. xxii
Glossary	p. xxiii
Acronyms	p. xxxv
Introduction Imperial Overreach and Nation Building	p. xxxvii
9/11 And War
A Man With A Mission The Unending Conflict in Afghanistan	p. 3
"The U.S. Will Act Like A Wounded Bear" Pakistan's Long Search for Its Soul	p. 24
The Chief Executive's Schizophrenia Pakistan, the United Nations, and the United States Before 9/11	p. 44
Attack! Retaliation and Invasion	p. 61
The Search For A Settlement Afghanistan and Pakistan at Odds	p. 84
The Politics Of The Post-9/11 World
A Nuclear State Of Mind India, Pakistan, and the War Of Permanent Instability	p. 109
The One-Billion-Dollar Warlords The War Within Afghanistan	p. 125
Musharraf's Lost Moment Political Expediency and Authoritarian Rule	p. 145
The Failure Of Nation Building
Afghanistan I Economic Reconstruction	p. 171
Afghanistan II Rebuilding Security	p. 196
Double-Dealing With Islamic Extremism Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan	p. 219
Taliban Resurgent The Taliban Return Home	p. 240
Descent Into Chaos
Al Qaeda's Bolt-Hole Pakistan's Tribal Areas	p. 265
America Shows The Way The Disappeared and the Rendered	p. 293
Drugs And Thugs Opium Fuels the Insurgency	p. 317
Who Lost Uzbekistan? Tyranny in Central Asia	p. 338
The Taliban Offensive Battling for Control of Afghanistan, 2006-2007	p. 349
The Death Of Anicon Pakistan Struggles to Survive	p. 374
Conclusion A Fragile Future	p. 402
Acknowledgments	p. 419
Notes	p. 421
Suggested Reading	p. 471
Index	p. 477
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