Author: Ahmed Rashid
Publisher: Pan Books
Year: 2001
Language: English
Pages: 276
ISBN/UPC (if available): 0330492217
Description
In this excellent, highly readable book, Ahmed Rashid tells a complicated story clearly. He places the rise of the Taliban in the context of the Afghan civil war, the energy policies of the Central Asian republics and the interests of American, Saudi and Pakistani intelligence services.
The tragic events of 11 September have brought the Taliban into sharp focus as the most radical and extreme Islamist movement in the world. Little is known about the Taliban because of the deep secrecy that surrounds the organization, its leaders and its aims. The Taliban has attracted fascination and loathing, controversy and fear both in the Muslim world and in the West.
The implications of Taliban expansion have already created severe instability in Russia and Central Asia. The Taliban has become a major player in the new ‘Great Game’ – harking back to the late-nineteenth century British and Russian confrontation in the region, involving competition between Western oil companies, manipulation from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran and covert operations by the CIA. The Prize: access to the new oil fields and transit routes for oil pipelines, not to mention the allure – for some — of the narcotics trade.
Contents
New Foreword, Post-Terrorist Attacks, September 2001
Preface and Acknowledgement
Maps
Introduction: Afghanistan’s Holy Warriors
PART I : HISTORY OF THE TALIBAN MOVEMENT
Chapter 1
Kandahar 1994: The Origins of the Taliban
Chapter 2
Heart 1995: God’s Invincible Soldiers
Chapter 3
Kabul 1996: Commander of the Faithful
Chapter 4
Mazar-e-Sharif 1997: Massacre in the North
Chapter 5
Bamiyan 1998-99: The Never-Ending War
PART 2 : ISLAM AND THE TALIBAN
Chapter 6
Challenging Islam: The New-Style Fundamentalism of the Taliban
Chapter 7
Secret Society: The Taliban’s Political and Military Organization
Chapter 8
A Vanished Gender: Women, Children and Taliban Culture
Chapter 9
High on Heroin: Drugs and the Taliban Economy
Chapter 10
Global Jihad : The Arab-Afghans and Osama Bin Laden
PART 3 : THE NEW GREAT GAME
Chapter 11
Dictators and Oil Barons: The Taliban and Central Asia, Russia, Turkey and Israel
Chapter 12
Romancing the Taliban 1: The Battle for Pipelines 1994-96
Chapter 13
Romancing the Taliban 2: The Battle for Pipelines 1997-99 -- The USA and the Taliban
Chapter 14
Master of Victim: Pakistan’s Afghan War
Chapter 15
Shia and Sunni: Iran and Saudi Arabia
Chapter 16
Conclusion: The Future of Afghanistan
Appendices
Notes
Index