Ahmed Rashid is the voice of reason amid the chaos of Central Asia today. His unique knowledge of this complex, war-torn region gives him a panoramic vision and grasp of nuance that no Western writer can emulate. In Descent Into Chaos, Rashid reviews the regional conditions since 9/11 and the catastrophic aftermath of America’s failed war on terror. The underlying theme is clear, devastating …
Since 9/11, the war in Afghanistan and the invasion of Iraq, the West has been fighting a 'War on Terror', through force and through the building of new societies in the region. In this clear and devastating account, with unparalleled access and intimate knowledge of the political players, Descent into Chaos chronicles our failure. Having reported from central Asia for a quarter of a century…
How did a nation founded as a homeland for South Asian Muslims, most of whom follow a tolerant nonthreatening form of Islam, become a haven for Al Qaeda and a rogues gallery of domestic jihadist and sectarian groups? In this groundbreaking history of Pakistans involvement with radical Islam, John R. Schmidt, the senior U.S political analyst in Pakistan in the years before 9/11, places the blam…
Benazir Bhutto is the daughter of Pakistan's former Prime Minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was executed by General Mohammed Zia ul-Haq in 1979. The leadership of the Pakistan People's Party. the largest and most powerful mass-based group in the country, had been passed on to her and her mother, Begum Bhutto, two years earlier, following her father's arrest. Benazir subsequently spent the bett…