“Not only provides thoughtful, detailed dissection of seminal events in Central Asian recent history, but an insightful snapshot into future scenarios of where the roadmaps to terror and peace may be headed.”
-Greg Mortenson, author of The New York Times bestseller Three Cups of Tea
“Powerful.”
-Wolf Blitzer
“Rashid, a Pakistani journalist, is that most valuable of political analysts: both insider and outsider to the problem he studies. His book should be read by anyone pondering how America might stop widening Osama bin Ladin’s pool of bomb-clad volunteers.”
– Chicago Tribune
“[A] brilliant and passionate book.”
–The New York Review of Books
Descent into ChaosMaps
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 One: 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
Part Two: 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
Part Three: The Failure of Nation Building
9. Afghanistan I
Economic Reconstruction
10. Afghanistan II
Rebuilding Security
11. Double-Dealing with Islamic Extremism
Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan
12. Taliban Resurgent
The Taliban Return Home
Part Four: Descent Into Chaos
13. Al Qaeda’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. The Death of an Icon
Pakistan Struggles to Survive
19. Conclusion
A Fragile Future
Acknowledgments
Notes
Suggested Reading
Index
