Descent into Chaos: The U. S. and the Disaster in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia
"For almost three decades, Ahmed Rashid has been the foremost journalist reporting from Afghanistan and Pakistan. Descent into Chaos is a crucial book with a timely message for policy-makers, the military, global strategists, and mostly the ill-informed public alike. Descent follows his acclaimed bestsellers Taliban and Jihad, which are the definitive works to explore the rise of radical extremism, and the massive failures of western interventionist policies in Pakistan and Afghanistan.\ \...
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After September 11th , Ahmed Rashid's crucial book Taliban introduced American readers to that now notorious regime. In this new work, he returns to Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia to review the catastrophic aftermath of America's failed war on terror. Called "Pakistan's best and bravest reporter" by Christopher Hitchens, Rashid has shown himself to be a voice of reason amid the chaos of present-day Central Asia. Descent Into Chaos is his blistering critique of American policy-a dire warning and an impassioned call to correct these disasterous strategies before these failing states threaten global stability and bring devastation to our world. 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)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
MapsCountries and Cities of Central AsiaEthnic Distribution Within Pakistan and AfghanistanAfghan Provinces and Federally Administered Tribal AreasNATO Deployment and Provincial Reconstruction Team Locations in Afghanistan, 2007Opium Poppy Cultivation in Afghanistan, 2007Military Offensives Launched by the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan, 2007-2008GlossaryAcronymsIntroduction: Imperial Overreach and Nation BuildingPart 1 9/11 and War1 A Man With a Mission: The Unending Conflict in Afghanistan 32 "The U.S. Will Act Like a Wounded Bear": Pakistan's Long Search for Its Soul 243 The Chief Executive's Schizophrenia: Pakistan, the United Nations, and the United States Before 9/11 444 Attack!: Retaliation and Invasion 615 The Search for a Settlement: Afghanistan and Pakistan at Odds 84Part 2 The Politics of the Post-9/11 World6 A Nuclear State of Mind: India, Pakistan, and the War of Permanent Instability 1097 The One-Billion-Dollar Warlords: The War Within Afghanistan 1258 Musharraf's Lost Moment: Political Expediency and Authoritarian Rule 145Part 3 The Failure of Nation Building9 Afghanistan I: Economic Reconstruction 17110 Afghanistan II: Rebuilding Security 19611 Double-Dealing with Islamic Extremism: Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan 21912 Taliban Resurgent: The Taliban Return Home 240Part 4 Descent Into Chaos13 Al Qaeda's Bolt-Hole: Pakistan's Tribal Areas 26514 America Shows the Way: The Disappeared and the Rendered 29315 Drugs and Thugs: Opium Fuels the Insurgency 31716 Who Lost Uzbekistan?: Tyranny in Central Asia 33817 TheTaliban Offensive: Battling for Control of Afghanistan, 2006-2007 34918 Conclusion: The Death of an Icon and a Fragile Future 374Acknowledgments 405Notes 407Suggested Reading 457Index 463
\ 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)\ Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.\ \
