Synopses & Reviews
Ahmed Rashid, whose masterful account of Afghanistan's Taliban regime became required reading after September 11, turns his legendary skills as an investigative journalist to five adjacent Central Asian Republics—Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan—where religious repression, political corruption, and extreme poverty have created a fertile climate for militant Islam. Based on groundbreaking research and numerous interviews, Rashid explains the roots of fundamentalist rage in Central Asia, describes the goals and activities of its militant organizations, including Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda, and suggests ways of neutralizing the threat and bringing stability to the troubled region. A timely and pertinent work, Jihad is essential reading for anyone who seeks to gain a better understanding of a region we overlook at our peril.
Review
"The sad and disconcerting story is told well, although Rashid's language is sometime stilted. But, like Taliban, this book brings a complicated political, economic, and religious situation to life for a wide audience." John Green, Booklist
Synopsis
An essential examination of the roots of fundamentalist rage in Central Asia, from the acclaimed author of
Taliban and
Descent into Chaos.
Ahmed Rashid, whose masterful account of Afghanistan's Taliban regime became required reading after September 11, turns his legendary skills as an investigative journalist to five adjacent Central Asian Republics--Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan--where religious repression, political corruption, and extreme poverty have created a fertile climate for militant Islam. Based on groundbreaking research and numerous interviews, Rashid explains the roots of fundamentalist rage in Central Asia, describes the goals and activities of its militant organizations, including Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda, and suggests ways of neutralizing the threat and bringing stability to the troubled region. A timely and pertinent work, Jihad is essential reading for anyone who seeks to gain a better understanding of a region we overlook at our peril.
About the Author
Ahmed Rashid is a journalist who has been covering Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia for more than twenty years. He is a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, Far Eastern Economic Review, Daily Telegraph, and The Nation, a leading newspaper in Pakistan. His #1 New York Times bestseller Taliban has been translated into more than twenty languages.
Table of Contents
Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia Preface to paperback edition
Preface
Maps
1. Introduction: Central Asia's Islamic Warriors
Part I: Islam and Politics in Central Asia, Past and Present
2. Conquerors and Saints: The Past as Present
3. Islam underground in the Soviet Union
4. The First Decade of Independance
Part II: Islamic Movements in Central Asia Since 1991
5. The Islamic Renaissance Party and the Civil War in Tajikistan
6. The Hizb ut-Tahrir: Reviving the Caliphate
7. Namangani and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
8. Namangani and Jihad in Central Asia
9. The New Great Game? The United States, Russia, and China
10. Central Asia and Its Neighbors
11. An Uncertain Future
Appendix: The Call to Jihad by the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
Notes
Glossary
Index