Taliban : The Story of Afghan's War Lords (2000 original; edició 2001)

NA

Comprehensive and dry at times. It reads like a history book. It IS a history book, as well as a great reference for Afghan political history up until circa 2000. ( )

Rashid is the most knowledgeable source on Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia. He has done more research and interviewed more of the essential players than anyone else. This history however precedes the arrival of Karzai so it should be considered as a survey of the 90's. Rashid is particularly useful in laying out the tribal divisions among the Pashtun, who I had thought were more monolithic and he is also very penetrating when it comes to the attempts by governments and companies to get a pipeline to carry oil and natural gas out of the newly emergent countries of Central Asia. The take away is that whoever deals with Afghanistan loses more in the bargain than they gain and Exhibit A is Pakistan. The ISI , the Pakistani intelligence organization, thought they were running the game and yet when push came to shove the Taliban did what they wanted. Same for the Saudi's. The story could not be more complex since it involves multiple levels from the tribal and ethnic to the broader super-power competitions. To that end I think Rashid's structure did serve his purposes well since he broke down the story by issue. A chapter would be devoted to narcotics, another oil and in consequence you are going back and forth in time repeatedly. One might cover 94-95 from the standpoint of the oil negotiations only to return to the period but now dwelling on another aspect. Of course the topic is infernal so I'm not sure it could be rendered anyway but I found myself unable to remember other aspects of the story when we circled back to a time period. Perhaps it just needs to be re-read. However, the depiction of Pakistan is terrifying and I had little understood just how much the Taliban were an invention of the Madrasses left behind in the wake of war with the Soviets and just how debilitating the Afghan war has been on Pakistan - not that they don't deserve it. It is also frightening that the ISI could overrule the central government and in effect wagged the dog. I think the chess term is Zugzwang where you have to move but if you do you are in checkmate. Such it is in Afghanistan, peace is absolutely essential but completely unattainable and the Taliban, coming out of the petri dish of the extreme Madrasses with no interaction with the world, or women, or even modernity, can neither be avoided or tolerated.Still Rashid is the authority I go to.

Se ritenete che le informazioni che leggete sui giornali o sentite ai telegiornali sui talebani, l'Afghanistan e la regione circostante non siano sufficienti (e non lo sono), allora leggete questo libro. E' fatto bene, esauriente nella descrizione della nascita del movimento talebano, le cause che lo hanno favorito, guerre civili, tensioni sociali ed economiche, influenze sinistre di tutti i paesi confinanti, soprattutto il Pachistan. Poi la sottovalutazione, se non menefreghismo delle potenze occidentali del problema talebano fino ai noti disastri degli attacchi alle ambasciate USA in Africa e l'attacco alle torri gemelle. Fino ai giorni nostri, i sviluppi, il contagio talebano che sta colpendo i paesi contro asiatici e Pachistan facendo temere un futuro ancor più pessimista.
A cooredo del libro ci sono 3 appendici: una riguardante un esmpio di decreto talebano sulle donne e su altre questioni culturasli; una riguarda la struttura dell'allora governo talebano e l'ultima riguarda Il nuovo grande gioco, praticamente la corsa delle compagnie petrolifere occidentali per mettere le mani sul petrolio e gas della regione.
L'analisi di Ahmed Rashid arriva fino al 2009 quando il libro va alle stampe, pertanto non è ancora avvenuta l'uccisione di Osama Bin Laden, ma questo non toglie nulla all'attualità e all'autorevolezza del libro.
Ne consiglio vivamenta la lettura per non correre il rischio di parlare di cose che non si conoscono o di prendere per oro colato le tesi altrui. ( )

An excellent summary of the Taliban and the ethnic and sectarian struggle in Afghanistan. Rashid's analysis in the last chapter is insightful but pre-dates the coalition invasion. The supplement to the last chapter which lists the rules governing women issued by the Taliban following their conquest of Kabul is chillingly Orwellian. ( )