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skitch41's review against another edition
5.0
Back in 2008 I read Mr. Rashid's last book, [bc:Descent into Chaos: The US & the Disaster in Pakistan, Afghanistan & Central Asia|6396315|Descent into Chaos The US & the Disaster in Pakistan, Afghanistan & Central Asia|Ahmed Rashid|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348368077s/6396315.jpg|3055405][b:Descent into Chaos: The US & the Disaster in Pakistan, Afghanistan & Central Asia|6396315|Descent into Chaos The US & the Disaster in Pakistan, Afghanistan & Central Asia|Ahmed Rashid|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348368077s/6396315.jpg|3055405], and was blown away by how badly the war in Afghanistan was being managed. It made me support Pres. Obama's push to refocus on Afghanistan during his first election, but after reading this damning follow-up, I'm not so sure that my trust was well placed. As Mr. Rashid reports, things have gone from bad to worse in Central Asia, partly because of Pres. Obama's failure to integrate a political solution into the troop surge with everyone in the military and goreign service on board, partly because of Pres. Hamid Karzai's failure to curb corruption and incompetence in his own government, and partly because of the basketcase Pakistan has become due to it's contradictory foreign policy, which is entirely run by a India-phobic military and intelligence service, and the utter corruption and incompetence of it's civilian government. The results, according to Mr. Rashid, have been a worsening interior security picture for both Pakistan and Afghanistan and a political & military quagmire for the United States. Mr. Rashid does point out some hopeful signs, mainly talks between the U.S. and Afghanistan aided by Germany that, if properly managed, could bring about a political solution to the insurgency, and the credible counterinsurgency campaign the Pakistani Army waged in the Swat valley a few years ago. But, overall, Mr. Rashid paints a bleak picture. There are a few problems with this book. First, it's over a year old, so it can't account for developments in the region in the past year, like the opening of a Taliban political office in Qatar, so you will have to get caught up on international news to find out if any of Mr. Rashid's wise advice has been followed. The other problem with this book is that it can't be completely seperated from his previous book, [b:Descent into Chaos: The US & the Disaster in Pakistan, Afghanistan & Central Asia|6396315|Descent into Chaos The US & the Disaster in Pakistan, Afghanistan & Central Asia|Ahmed Rashid|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348368077s/6396315.jpg|3055405], as he refers back to it several times. For you to have a full knowledge of the situation in Central Asia from Mr. Rashid's perspective, you will need to read that book before this one. Other than that, this is an invaluable book to read and one I hope that is in the hands of every U.S. official will read before combat operations end in 2014.
shoaibmnagi's review
4.0
A good interwoven analysis of the foreign policies of Pakistan, Afghanistan and United State and thorough analysis of the domestic conditions of AfPak. Ahmed Rashid maintains his impartiality and shows the War on Terror in Af-Pak through a very objective perspective.
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