Books like Taliban by Ahmed Rashid

Name: Taliban
Rating: 3 (2 reviews)
Author: Ahmed Rashid

Ahmed Rashid, a seasoned journalist who covered the Afghan civil war for two decades, provides an unprecedented, firsthand portrait of the Taliban’s emergence in 1994 and their continued dominance of Afghan politics. Drawing on extensive travel, interviews with leading Taliban figures, and a deep understanding of regional dynamics, Rashid examines how the group’s extreme ideology has destabilized Russia, Iran, Pakistan, and the Central Asian republics. He also analyzes the shifting attitudes of Western powers—from early support to the post-9/11 crackdown on Taliban‑linked terrorist bases—and the implications for U.S. strategy in the region. Central to the narrative is the Taliban’s role in the new “Great Game” over Central Asian oil and gas pipelines, whose engineering and economic interests intersect with local and global power politics.

First publish date: March 2000

Genre: Politics & Government/Government

Authors: Ahmed Rashid

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 3.0 (2 community ratings)

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Books similar to Taliban (10 similar books)

📘 In the Hand of the Taliban

by Yvonne Ridley

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📘 Taliban

by James Fergusson

"Fifteen years ago, southern Afghanistan was in even greater chaos than it is now. The Russians, who had occupied the country throughout the 1980s, were long gone. The disparate ethnic and religious leaders who had united to eject the invaders - the famous mujahiddin - were at each others' throats. For the rural poor of Kandahar province, life was almost impossible. Then on 12 October 1994 a small group of religious students decided to take matters into their own hands. Led by an illiterate village mullah with one eye, some 200 of them surrounded and took Spin Boldak, a trucking stop on the border with Pakistan. From this short and unremarkable border skirmish, a legend was born: the Taliban"--Jacket.

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Books like Taliban

📘 The Taliban

by Peter Marsden

"The Taliban explores what the Taliban stand for and the factors leading to their rapid rise. It describes the war which continues to afflict the Afghan people as well as the geo-political context and part played by vertain powers in the region, and by the United States, in the Taliban's dramatic expansion."--Page 4 of cover.

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📘 Reaping the whirlwind

by Michael Griffin

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📘 Afghan Taliban

by Samīʻulḥaq

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📘 The Taliban phenomenon

by Kamal Matinuddin

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📘 Descent into chaos

by Ahmed Rashid

Examines the failure of nation-building policies in Afghanistan and Pakistan, leading to increased instability and threats to global peace.

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📘 Return of the Taliban

by Hassan Abbas

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📘 Taliban at War

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Descent into Chaos: The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia by Ahmed Rashid
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Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History by Thomas Barfield
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