Ahmed Rashid is a journalist who has been covering Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia for more than twenty years. He is a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, Far Eastern Economic Review, Daily Telegraph, and The Nation, a leading newspaper in Pakistan. His #1 New York Times bestseller Taliban has been translated into more than twenty languages.

Descent into ChaosMaps
Countries and Cities of Central Asia
Ethnic Distribution Within Pakistan and Afghanistan
Afghan Provinces and Federally Administered Tribal Areas
NATO Deployment and Provincial Reconstruction Team Locations in Afghanistan, 2007
Opium Poppy Cultivation in Afghanistan, 2007
Military Offensives Launched by the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan, 2007-2008
Glossary
Acronyms




Introduction
Imperial Overreach and Nation Building


Part One: 9/11 And War


1. A Man With A Mission
The Unending Conflict in Afghanistan


2. "The U.S. Will Act Like a Wounded Bear"
Pakistan's Long Search for Its Soul


3. The Chief Executive's Schizophrenia
Pakistan, the United Nations, and the United States Before 9/11


4. Attack!
Retaliation and Invasion


5. The Search for a Settlement
Afghanistan and Pakistan at Odds


Part Two: The Politics of the Post-9/11 World


6. A Nuclear State of Mind
India, Pakistan, and the War of Permanent Instability


7. The One-Billion-Dollar Warlords
The War Within Afghanistan


8. Musharraf's Lost Moment
Political Expediency and Authoritarian Rule


Part Three: The Failure of Nation Building


9. Afghanistan I
Economic Reconstruction


10. Afghanistan II
Rebuilding Security


11. Double-Dealing with Islamic Extremism
Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan


12. Taliban Resurgent
The Taliban Return Home


Part Four: Descent Into Chaos


13. Al Qaeda's Bolt-Hole
Pakistan's Tribal Areas


14. America Shows The Way
The Disappeared and the Rendered


15. Drugs and Thugs
Opium Fuels the Insurgency


16. Who Lost Uzbekistan?
Tyranny in Central Asia


17. The Taliban Offensive
Battling for Control of Afghanistan, 2006-2007


18. The Death of an Icon
Pakistan Struggles to Survive


19. Conclusion
A Fragile Future


Acknowledgments
Notes
Suggested Reading
Index