Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia

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Yale University Press, 2010 M04 13 - 344 pages

“The standard work in English on the Taliban” (Christopher de Bellaigue, New York Review of Books) and its impact on Afghanistan

A #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“Indispensable.”—Steve Wasserman, Los Angeles Times Book Review

“An excellent political and historical account of the movement’s rise to power.”—Katha Pollitt, Nation

“[A] valuable and informative work.”—Richard Bernstein, New York Times

Ahmed Rashid, called "Pakistan's best and bravest reporter" by Christopher Hitchens, brings the shadowy world of the Taliban and its impact on Afghanistan and the Middle East and Central Asia into sharp focus in this modern classic. Rashid offers an authoritative account of the Taliban’s rise to power, its role in oil and gas company decisions, and the effects of changing American attitudes toward the Taliban. He also describes the new face of Islamic fundamentalism and explains why Afghanistan has become the world center for international terrorism.

In this updated edition, Rashid examines how the Taliban regained its strength; how and why the Taliban spread across Central Asia; how the Taliban helped Al'Qaida's spread into Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and the Far east; and more.

 

Contents

Preface to the Second Edition
Chapter
Maps
History of the Taliban Movement
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
The ArabAfghans and Osama Bin Laden
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17

Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Drugs and the Taliban Economy
Appendices
Index
Copyright

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About the author (2010)

Called “Pakistan’s best and bravest reporter” by Christopher Hitchens in Vanity Fair, Ahmed Rashid was a correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review for more than twenty years, covering Pakistan, Afghanistan, and central Asia. He now writes for BBC Online, the Washington Post, El Mundo, the International Herald Tribune, the New York Review of Books, and other foreign and Pakistani newspapers. He has been covering the wars in Afghanistan, as well as the wars in Pakistan and Tajikistan, since 1979. He is the author of Descent into Chaos and Jihad.

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