Download or read book QUEST FOR A STABLE AFGHANISTAN written by Sujeet Sarkar and published by Rupa Publications India Pvt Limited. This book was released on 2021 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An intimate and detailed account of how the haggard and faulty policies of the West have put Afghanistan on the brink of a deeper and increasingly worrisome crisis The war in Afghanistan has been raging for 20 years-three times more than the duration of World War II. Twenty years after the West, under the leadership of the United States, went to war in Afghanistan, the Taliban is gaining momentum, seizing territory and killing Afghan security forces in unprecedented numbers. All told, the cost of 20 years of war in Afghanistan will amount to more than $2 trillion. Still, why is Afghanistan looking more precarious than ever? Apparently, the US-brokered peace process has crumbled, with neither the Taliban nor the Afghan government subscribing to it fully. Did 20 years of unparalleled military support and financial aid fail to pacify one of the world's most volatile nations? What was the West's biggest failure in Afghanistan? With the departure of the US forces, in the midst of a resurgent Taliban taking over Kabul, there is growing speculation around the stability of this country. Quest for a Stable Afghanistan deeply analyses the Afghan war and apprises the readers about the colossal crisis that the country is facing today. It is a bold attempt to move away from the mainstream rhetoric, and focus on the future that lies ahead of Afghanistan. It provides a daring new outlook denouncing several myths that colour common global perception of this war-ravaged country.
Download or read book Long Way Back written by Christopher Alexander and published by HarperCollins Canada. This book was released on 2011-09-06 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christopher Alexander was sent to Afghanistan in 2003, charged with supporting the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, part of the global response to 9/11. Primarily covering the years 2001 to 2011, The Long Way Back tells the story of the historic achievements and bitter disappointments encountered on the road to political stability in Afghanistan. But this is much more than a first-hand account of recent events: it is a clear-eyed take on what has been achieved, the triumphs and failings of Afghans and foreigners alike, and why the country is still mired in conflict. Alexander guides us through the intricacies of the cross-border insurgency—showing that Pakistan continues the campaign begun under the British frontier policy and scaled up by the U.S. for jihad against the Soviets. With Alexander’s direct access to and experience with the country’s leaders, the international players and ordinary Afghan citizens, a unique portrait of Afghanistan is revealed and an argument is made for what it will take for the country to achieve a lasting peace.
Download or read book The Long Way Back written by Chris Alexander and published by Harper. This book was released on 2011-11-08 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Afghanistan is far from stable: Wounds left by thirty years of war are still raw. Terrorism is a daily menace. Roads are littered with Taliban bombs. Targeted killings and international impatience are fueling Afghan anxieties. Regional warlords, drug barons, and corrupt government officials all flout the conceit of a functional and unified nation. Pakistan’s aggressive influence is a real and constant presence. Yet Chris Alexander, former deputy head of the UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan and former Canadian ambassador to Afghanistan, sees something different: a peace that is not only theoretically possible but practically achievable given the right conditions. The Long Way Back tells the story of the historic accomplishments and bitter disappointments encountered on the road to political stability. But the book is much more than a firsthand account of recent events: it is a clear-eyed take on what has been achieved, the triumphs and failings of Afghans and foreigners alike, and why the country is still mired in conflict. With his direct access to and experience with the country’s leaders, the international players, and ordinary Afghan citizens, Chris Alexander reveals a portrait of Afghanistan like none other and makes an insightful and bold argument for what it will take to attain a lasting peace.
Download or read book Afghanistan and Its Neighbourhood written by Smruti S. Pattanaik and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 83 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Taliban and the Crisis of Afghanistan written by Robert D. Crews and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-06-30 with total page 443 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: [This book] explores ... how has a seemingly anachronistic band of religious zealots managed to retain a tenacious foothold in the struggle for Afghanistan's future ... [It] investigates ... questions relating to the character of the Taliban, its evolution over time, and its capacity to affect the future of the region.--Dust jacket.
Download or read book Afghanistan and Its Neighbors written by Marvin G. Weinbaum and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fate of Afghanistan and the success of U.S. and coalition efforts to stabilize Afghanistan will in large measure be affected by the current and future policies pursued by its varied proximate and distal neighbors. Weinbaum evaluates the courses of action Afghanistan's key neighbors are likely to take.
Download or read book Afghanistan s Endless War written by Larry P. Goodson and published by University of Washington Press. This book was released on 2011-07-01 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Going beyond the stereotypes of Kalashnikov-wielding Afghan mujahideen and black-turbaned Taliban fundamentalists, Larry Goodson explains in this concise analysis of the Afghan war what has really been happening in Afghanistan in the last twenty years. Beginning with the reasons behind Afghanistan’s inability to forge a strong state -- its myriad cleavages along ethnic, religious, social, and geographical fault lines -- Goodson then examines the devastating course of the war itself. He charts its utter destruction of the country, from the deaths of more than 2 million Afghans and the dispersal of some six million others as refugees to the complete collapse of its economy, which today has been replaced by monoagriculture in opium poppies and heroin production. The Taliban, some of whose leaders Goodson interviewed as recently as 1997, have controlled roughly 80 percent of the country but themselves have shown increasing discord along ethnic and political lines.
Download or read book Quest for Peace in Afghanistan written by and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Unholy Wars written by John K. Cooley and published by Pluto Press. This book was released on 2002-06-20 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A classic book on the history of the USA's involvement with Afghanistan
Download or read book Karzai written by Nick Mills and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2007-08-31 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The untold story of Hamid Karzai's dramatic rise to the presidency of Afghanistan and the problems he and his country face In 2004, Hamid Karzai was elected president in Afghanistan's first-ever democratic election. Today, criticized for indecisiveness and targeted for assassination by extremists, President Karzai struggles to build on the country's modest post-Taliban achievements before civil unrest undermines his government. Now, author Nick Mills draws on months of candid personal interviews with the charismatic Afghan president to offer a revealing portrait of the figure known to millions by his familiar uniform of karakul cap and long green chappan. Timely and compelling, Karzai tells the fascinating story of a unique leader with a keen intellect, a natural gift for storytelling, and a presidency in peril.
Download or read book The Snow Leopard Project written by Alex Dehgan and published by PublicAffairs. This book was released on 2019-01-22 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The remarkable story of the heroic effort to save and preserve Afghanistan's wildlife-and a culture that derives immense pride and a sense of national identity from its natural landscape. Postwar Afghanistan is fragile, volatile, and perilous. It is also a place of extraordinary beauty. Evolutionary biologist Alex Dehgan arrived in the country in 2006 to build the Wildlife Conservation Society's Afghanistan Program, and preserve and protect Afghanistan's unique and extraordinary environment, which had been decimated after decades of war. Conservation, it turned out, provided a common bond between Alex's team and the people of Afghanistan. His international team worked unarmed in some of the most dangerous places in the country-places so remote that winding roads would abruptly disappear, and travel was on foot, yak, or mule. In The Snow Leopard Project, Dehgan takes readers along with him on his adventure as his team helps create the country's first national park, completes the some of the first extensive wildlife surveys in thirty years, and works to stop the poaching of the country's iconic endangered animals, including the elusive snow leopard. In doing so, they help restore a part of Afghan identity that is ineffably tied to the land itself.
Download or read book Russian Soviet Unconventional Wars in the Caucasus Central Asia and Afghanistan Illustrated Edition written by Dr. Robert F. Baumann and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2015-11-06 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: [Includes 12 maps and 4 tables] In recent years, the U.S. Army has paid increasing attention to the conduct of unconventional warfare. However, the base of historical experience available for study has been largely American and overwhelmingly Western. In Russian-Soviet Unconventional Wars in the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Afghanistan, Dr. Robert F. Baumann makes a significant contribution to the expansion of that base with a well-researched analysis of four important episodes from the Russian-Soviet experience with unconventional wars. Primarily employing Russian sources, including important archival documents only recently declassified and made available to Western scholars, Dr. Baumann provides an insightful look at the Russian conquest of the Caucasian mountaineers (1801-59), the subjugation of Central Asia (1839-81), the reconquest of Central Asia by the Red Army (1918-33), and the Soviet war in Afghanistan (1979-89). The history of these wars—especially as it relates to the battle tactics, force structure, and strategy employed in them—offers important new perspectives on elements of continuity and change in combat over two centuries. This is the first study to provide an in-depth examination of the evolution of the Russian and Soviet unconventional experience on the predominantly Muslim southern periphery of the former empire. There, the Russians encountered fierce resistance by peoples whose cultures and views of war differed sharply from their own. Consequently, this Leavenworth Paper addresses not only issues germane to combat but to a wide spectrum of civic and propaganda operations as well.
Download or read book Coalition Challenges in Afghanistan written by Gale A. Mattox and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2015-12-02 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the experiences of a range of countries in the conflict in Afghanistan, with particular focus on the demands of operating within a diverse coalition of states. After laying out the challenges of the Afghan conflict in terms of objectives, strategy, and mission, case studies of 15 coalition members—each written by a country expert—discuss each country's motivation for joining the coalition and explore the impact of more than 10 years of combat on each country's military, domestic government, and populace. The book dissects the changes in the coalition over the decade, driven by both external factors—such as the Bonn Conferences of 2001 and 2011, the contiguous Iraq War, and politics and economics at home—and internal factors such as command structures, interoperability, emerging technologies, the surge, the introduction of counterinsurgency doctrine, Green on Blue attacks, escalating civilian casualties, and the impact of the Provincial Reconstruction Teams and NGOs. In their conclusion, the editors review the commonality and uniqueness evident in the country cases, lay out the lessons learned by NATO, and assess the potential for their application in future alliance warfare in the new global order.
Download or read book US Nation Building in Afghanistan Open Access written by Conor Keane and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-03-31 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why has the US so dramatically failed in Afghanistan since 2001? Dominant explanations have ignored the bureaucratic divisions and personality conflicts inside the US state. This book rectifies this weakness in commentary on Afghanistan by exploring the significant role of these divisions in the US’s difficulties in the country that meant the battle was virtually lost before it even began. The main objective of the book is to deepen readers understanding of the impact of bureaucratic politics on nation-building in Afghanistan, focusing primarily on the Bush Administration. It rejects the ’rational actor’ model, according to which the US functions as a coherent, monolithic agent. Instead, internal divisions within the foreign policy bureaucracy are explored, to build up a picture of the internal tensions and contradictions that bedevilled US nation-building efforts. The book also contributes to the vexed issue of whether or not the US should engage in nation-building at all, and if so under what conditions.
Download or read book The Long War written by David Loyn and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2021-09-21 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Just as U. S. soldiers and diplomats pulled out of Afghanistan, supposedly concluding their role and responsibility in the two-decade conflict, the country fell to the Taliban. In The Long War, award-winning BBC foreign correspondent David Loyn uncovers the political and military strategies—and failures—that prolonged America’s longest war. Three American presidents tried to defeat the Taliban—sending 150,000 international troops at the war’s peak with a trillion-dollar price tag. But early policy mistakes that allowed Osama bin Laden to escape made the task far more difficult. Deceived by easy victories, they backed ruthless corrupt local allies and misspent aid. The story of The Long War is told by the generals who led it through the hardest years of combat as surges of international troops tried to turn the tide. Generals, which include David Petraeus, Stanley McChrystal, Joe Dunford and John Allen, were tested in battle as never before. With the reputation of a “warrior monk,” McChrystal was considered one of the most gifted military leaders of his generation. He was one of two generals to be fired in this most public of commands. Holding together the coalition of countries who joined America’s fight in Afghanistan was just one part of the multi-dimensional puzzle faced by the generals, as they fought an elusive and determined enemy while responsible for thousands of young American and allied lives. The Long War goes behind the scenes of their command and of the Afghan government. The fourth president to take on the war, Joe Biden ordered troops to withdraw in 2021, twenty years after 9/11, just as the Taliban achieved victory, leaving behind an unstable nation and an unforeseeable future.
Download or read book The Empires of the Near East and India written by Hani Khafipour and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2019-05-14 with total page 1103 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the early modern world, the Safavid, Ottoman, and Mughal empires sprawled across a vast swath of the earth, stretching from the Himalayas to the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea. The diverse and overlapping literate communities that flourished in these three empires left a lasting legacy on the political, religious, and cultural landscape of the Near East and India. This volume is a comprehensive sourcebook of newly translated texts that shed light on the intertwined histories and cultures of these communities, presenting a wide range of source material spanning literature, philosophy, religion, politics, mysticism, and visual art in thematically organized chapters. Scholarly essays by leading researchers provide historical context for closer analyses of a lesser-known era and a framework for further research and debate. The volume aims to provide a new model for the study and teaching of the region’s early modern history that stands in contrast to the prevailing trend of examining this interconnected past in isolation.
Download or read book In Search of a New Afghanistan written by Sujeet Sarkar and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A refreshing look at the challenges faced by Afghanistan, post 9/11. The pertinent success stories in this well-researched book tell us that not all is lost in Afghanistan.
