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The History Connection - Descent into Chaos: The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia
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List Price: $27.95
Our Price: $16.34
Your Save: $ 11.61 ( 42% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Viking Adult
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 954.053
EAN: 9780670019700
ISBN: 0670019704
Label: Viking Adult
Manufacturer: Viking Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 544
Publication Date: 2008-06-03
Publisher: Viking Adult
Studio: Viking Adult
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: an essential history
Comment: Mr. Rashid provides a review of the recent history of a region that has known centuries of conflict. He explains why the billions spent by the Bush administration were unable to bring any measure of peace and prosperity to the peoples of Afghanistan and Pakistan and why the policies pursued by Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld have produced a stronger, bolder, and more capable Taliban while doing little to enhance in-country governance. Descent into Chaos is beautifully and passionately written by an expert in the history and politics of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the larger Central Asian region and should be read by those wanting to better understand the connections between America's foreign policy and the region's continued instability and lawlessness.
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Summary: Best of Investigative Journalism
Comment: This book deserves 10 stars for its factual account, investigative style, and straightforward no nonsense writing. The facts presented in this book are awesome and could have only been written by someone who knew the subject from beginning to end. It is at once an excellent combination of history, a thriller, a foreign policy and international relations read all in one, one cannot put it down upon starting to read it despite its size.
It is a complete account of what transpired in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, the vacillating U.S. foreign policy, and the people within and without who made the current chaos the gigantic problem that it is. The author has excellent grasp of the thinking, beliefs, and culture in these places. A MUST READ. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED with COMMENDATIONS as the best book on the subject.
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Summary: A Must Read
Comment: There are shocking revelations about ISI and American Afghan policy in this book. A must read for anyone interested in international affairs and foreign policy. It is full of information about post 9/11 events in South and Central Asia. Brilliant analysis. Obama team would do well to read this book in making their Afghan/Pakistan policy.
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Summary: The Chaos
Comment: A better title for this excellent book might be "Maintaining the Chaos". The author is probably right in his assessment of US mismanagement of war, aid and influence in the Middle-East. How could it be otherwise though? The region is populated by hordes of people stuck in prehistoric, tribal mentality. Modern American leaders and policy makers stand about zero chance of knowing how to positively affect the outcome of events there. I doubt that we could dig up anyone in the West who could do much better than what has been done. Our history is not good, no matter who is in power.
If, however, some boys and girls in Afghanistan, or other countries in the region, get the chance now to go to school where they might not have otherwise, the world has made a little progress.
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Summary: A contemporary analysis of root causes of Taliban resurgence
Comment: This is the second book from Ahmed Rashid I have read. In the first book, "Taliban", Ahmed Rashid raised the caution about Taliban back in 1998 when few in the world knew much about them. In this recent book, Ahmed Rashid has provided a detailed analysis of how did Taliban take advantage of USA's diverted attention due to its involvement in Iraq. And how did other powers in the region shielded them for their designs.
Much of the book is scholarly treatise, with ample references to reports and quotes. It also mentions inconsistencies in the work by other authors on Taliban.
In some sections, the book goes into minute details which prompts the reader to skip over pages.
In its entirety, however, it is a must-read book for anyone who wishes to explore the root causes of Taliban resurgence and the approaches to contain it.
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Editorial Reviews:
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The #1 New York Times bestselling author provides a shocking analysis of the crisis in Pakistan and the renewed radicalism threatening Afghanistan and the West.
Ahmed Rashid is “Pakistan’s best and bravest reporter” (Christopher Hitchens). His unique knowledge of this vast and complex region allows him a panoramic vision and nuance that no Western writer can emulate.
His book Taliban first introduced American readers to the brutal regime that hijacked Afghanistan and harbored the terrorist group responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Now, Rashid examines the region and the corridors of power in Washington and Europe to see how the promised nation building in these countries has pro-gressed. 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.
Benazir Bhutto’s assassination and the crisis in Pakistan are only the beginning. Rashid assesses what her death means for the region and the future. Rashid has unparalleled access to the figures in this global drama, and provides up-to-the-minute analysis better than anyone else. Descent Into Chaos will do for Central Asia what Thomas Rick’s Fiasco did for Iraq — offer a blistering critique of the Bush administration and an impassioned call to correct our failed strategy in the region.
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