Normal view MARC view ISBD view

Descent into chaos : the United States and the failure of nation building in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia /

by Rashid, Ahmed.
Type: materialTypeLabelBookPublisher: New York : Viking, 2008Description: lviii, 484 p. : ill., maps ; 25 cm.ISBN: 9780670019700 (alk. paper); 0670019704.Subject(s): Afghanistan -- Politics and government -- 2001- | Pakistan -- Politics and government -- 1988- | South Asia -- Relations -- United States | United States -- Relations -- South Asia | Nation-building -- South AsiaOnline Resources: Table of contents only
Contents:
Introduction. Imperial overreach and nation building -- pt. I. 9/11 and war -- 1. A man with a mission : the unending conflict in Afghanistan -- 2. "The U.S. will act like a wounded bear" : Pakistan's long search for its soul -- 3. The chief executive's schizophrenia : Pakistan, the United Nations, and the United States before 9/11 -- 4. Attack! : retaliation and invasion -- 5. The search for a settlement : Afghanistan and Pakistan at odds -- pt. II. The politics of the post-9/11 world -- 6. A nuclear state of mind : India, Pakistan, and the war of permanent instability -- 7. The one-billion-dollar warlords : the war within Afghanistan -- 8. Musharraf's lost moment : political expediency and authoritarian rule -- pt. III. The failure of nation building -- 9. Afghanistan I : economic reconstruction -- 10. Afghanistan II : rebuilding security -- 11. Double-dealing with Islamic extremism : al Queda and the Taliban in Pakistan -- 12. Taliban resurgent : the Taliban return home -- pt. IV. Descent into chaos -- 13. Al Queda's bolt-hole : Pakistan's tribal areas -- 14. America shows the way : the disappeared and the rendered -- 15. Drugs and thugs : opium fuels the insurgency -- 16. Who lost Uzbekistan? : tyranny in Central Asia -- 17. The Taliban offensive : battling for control of Afghanistan, 2006-2007 -- 18. Conclusion : the death of an icon and a fragile future.
Summary: Rashid examines the region and the corridors of power in Washington and Europe to see how the promised nation building in these countries has progressed. 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.--From publisher description.
Tags from this library:
No tags from this library for this title.
Log in to add tags.
Fiction notes: Click to open in new window Awards: Click to open in new window
Item type Location Call number Status Date due
Book University of Texas At Tyler
Stacks - 3rd Floor 		DS371.4 .R37 2008 (Browse shelf) Available

Includes bibliographical references (p. 457-461) and index.

Introduction. Imperial overreach and nation building -- pt. I. 9/11 and war -- 1. A man with a mission : the unending conflict in Afghanistan -- 2. "The U.S. will act like a wounded bear" : Pakistan's long search for its soul -- 3. The chief executive's schizophrenia : Pakistan, the United Nations, and the United States before 9/11 -- 4. Attack! : retaliation and invasion -- 5. The search for a settlement : Afghanistan and Pakistan at odds -- pt. II. The politics of the post-9/11 world -- 6. A nuclear state of mind : India, Pakistan, and the war of permanent instability -- 7. The one-billion-dollar warlords : the war within Afghanistan -- 8. Musharraf's lost moment : political expediency and authoritarian rule -- pt. III. The failure of nation building -- 9. Afghanistan I : economic reconstruction -- 10. Afghanistan II : rebuilding security -- 11. Double-dealing with Islamic extremism : al Queda and the Taliban in Pakistan -- 12. Taliban resurgent : the Taliban return home -- pt. IV. Descent into chaos -- 13. Al Queda's bolt-hole : Pakistan's tribal areas -- 14. America shows the way : the disappeared and the rendered -- 15. Drugs and thugs : opium fuels the insurgency -- 16. Who lost Uzbekistan? : tyranny in Central Asia -- 17. The Taliban offensive : battling for control of Afghanistan, 2006-2007 -- 18. Conclusion : the death of an icon and a fragile future.

Rashid examines the region and the corridors of power in Washington and Europe to see how the promised nation building in these countries has progressed. 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.--From publisher description.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Pakistani journalist Rashid offers yet another lucid, insightful, and highly readable tome on the existent and emergent threats in Central Asia--a region that he effectively demonstrates is a volatile yet essential front in the war between modernizers and militant Islam. Because of his unrivaled access to both official and tribal leaders (largely in Afghanistan and Pakistan), Rashid is uniquely able to paint a vivid, urgent picture of a region on the precipice of anarchy. This experiential perspective is complemented by a great volume of secondary research, which both broadens and deepens his analysis. Perhaps the most scandalous (though perhaps unsurprising) revelation that Rashid offers is the overwhelmingly military approach to the region's problems: monies designated for aid have gone almost entirely toward armaments and troops at the expense of rebuilding and development programs. Most of the author's scorn in this regard is directed at the US, but ultimately NATO and EU nations are also indicted for their failure to respond, as is the malignant neglect of the international community as a whole. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. M. O'Gara Rocky Mountain College

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Pakistani journalist and bestselling author Ahmed Rashid was born in Rawalpindi in 1948. He was educated at Malvern College in England, Government College in Lahore, and Fitzwilliam College in Cambridge. He works as a correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review and the Daily Telegraph and writes for the Wall Street Journal, The Nation, and academic journals. His titles include Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia, Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia, and Descent into Chaos. (Bowker Author Biography)

There are no comments for this item.

Log in to your account to post a comment.