Descent into Chaos, Ahmed Rashid
Descent into Chaos, Ahmed Rashid
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Descent into Chaos
The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia

Author: Ahmed Rashid

Narrator: Arthur Morey

Unabridged: 19 hr 9 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/03/2008

Synopsis

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 and deeply critical of current U.S. foreign policy. Iraq is essentially a sideshow. Pakistan and Afghanistan are where the war really began. Pakistan remains the crucial resource and key player, and Afghanistan is where the fight against Islamic insurgency is eventually going to be played out. Rashid also brings into clear focus the regional issues of Central Asia that few in our country seem to understand and yet are having a crucial impact on our own security and conduct. Seven years after 9/11, despite the thousands of lives and billions of dollars that have been spent in the region, it is in chaos. Pakistan, unstable and armed with nuclear weapons, has become terrorism central. The Taliban is resurging and reconquering land, and al Qaeda is stronger than ever. And at the heart of these calamities is the United States’ refusal to accept its responsibility for statecraft and nation building and its utter failure to understand the region. Rashid’s blistering critique of American policy is also a warning and an impassioned call to correct our failed strategies. There is no more urgent global task.

About Ahmed Rashid

Ahmed Rashid is a Pakistani journalist based in Lahore who writes for The Washington Post, Daily Telegraph (London), the International Herald Tribune, The New York Review of Books, BBC Online, and The Nation. His previous books include Jihad, Taliban, and The Resurgence of Central Asia. He appears regularly on NPR, CNN, and the BBC World Service.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Will on February 22, 2023

Even more than a decade and a half after its publication Descent Into Chaos is a must read for anyone interested in ongoing events in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the central Asian “stans” that make up one of the most politically volatile areas on earth. Rashid is both a journalist and a participant, h......more

Goodreads review by Caroline on May 20, 2015

This was one big sprawl of a depressing read, far too complex for my abilities as a reviewer to put neatly into any sort synopsis or overview. Luckily that has already been done brilliantly by Will Byrnes, whose review I highly recommend. Instead I shall note a few points that I picked up from the bo......more

Goodreads review by Steve on August 28, 2008

Read the book that many of Obama's advisers are reading or have recently read - and on which they have clearly relied in helping articulate the details of Obama's call for an emphasis on Afghanistan and Pakistan as the "central front in the war on terror." As Raymond Bonner in the Times and at least......more

Goodreads review by James on December 14, 2008

If you only have time to read one book on post-9/11 Afghanistan, Pakistan, and to a lesser extent Central Asia and the subcontinent, this would be the one to buy. Historians and academic courses will start with this book. Dense, well researched, insider journalism from a wise and keen observer of th......more

Goodreads review by Shehreyar on May 27, 2012

Read this on my 24 hour long road trip from Islamabad to Kandahar. It's an interesting read--highly anti-American, I must say--but it reveals a great deal of Afghanistan and Pakistan's past going back to the time of Zia, Bhutto, Daoud and the Russian invasion. It pulled me into the world of politics......more

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