Descent into Chaos

How the War Against Islamic Extremism Is Being Lost in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia

| 4.22 | 2,579 ratings and reviews

Recommended by Thomas Barfield, Paddy Docherty, Gretchen Peters, and 3 others. See all reviews

Ranked #15 in Pakistan, Ranked #21 in Afghanistan — see more rankings.

After September 11th, Ahmed Rashid's crucial book "Taliban" introduced American readers to that now notorious regime. In this new work, he returns to Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia to review the catastrophic aftermath of America's failed war on terror. Called "Pakistan's best and bravest reporter" by Christopher Hitchens, Rashid has shown himself to be a voice of reason amid the chaos of present-day Central Asia. "Descent Into Chaos" is his blistering critique of American policy-a dire warning and an impassioned call to correct these disasterous strategies before these failing states... more
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Reviews and Recommendations

We've comprehensively compiled reviews of Descent into Chaos from the world's leading experts.

Thomas Barfield His book about the Taliban came to prominence after 9/11. What Rashid manages to do is to show that this is a transnational problem. (Source)

Paddy Docherty Because it is the authoritative account of the current situation in the region. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to understand what’s going on in Pakistan and Afghanistan. (Source)

Gretchen Peters This is a thorough analysis of how Western policy towards the region has made things worse since 2001. It is pretty bleak. Rashid joked to me while he was writing it that the working title was, What A Fucking Mess. (Source)

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