Synopses & Reviews
' Correspondent Ahmed Rashid brings the shadowy world of the Talibanthe worlds most extreme and radical Islamic organizationinto sharp focus in this enormously insightful book. He offers the only authoritative account of the Taliban available to English-language readers, explaining the Talibans rise to power, its impact on Afghanistan and the region, its role in oil and gas company decisions, and the effects of changing American attitudes toward the Taliban. He also describes the new face of Islamic fundamentalism and explains why Afghanistan has become the world center for international terrorism.
New to this updated edition of the #1 New York Times Bestseller with more than 1.5 million copies sold worldwide:
o How the Taliban has regained its strength
o How and why the Taliban has spread across Central Asia
o How the Taliban has helped AlQaidas spread into Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and the Far East
o Why the Afghan people feel the United States is losing the war
o A major new introduction and an all-new final chapter
'
Review
'“This is a fine bookerudite, concise, sure-footed, packed with information and insight, easy to read. On each of the three major interrelated themes covered herethe history of the Taliban and the internal politics of Afghanistan; Islam and the Taliban; the ‘new Great Game of oil and gas in Central Asiathe author is illuminating and thorough.”Dilip Hiro,
Middle East International -- Barnaby Rogerson'
Review
'“The standard work in English on the Taliban.”--Christopher de Bellaigue,
New York Review of Books
-- Dilip Hiro - Middle East International'
Review
'“Rashid marshals the vast amount of information he has accumulated over decades of covering the area into a long, sad story and tells it with finesse. His book is a gripping account of one of the horror stories of post-Cold War politics.”Jonathan Groner, Salon.com
-- Christopher de Bellaigue - New York Review of Books'
Review
'“[R]ead this remarkable book and the bewildering complexity of Afghan politics and the deadly overspill of chaos, narcotics, and sectarian violence into the surrounding region will become clear.”Patrick Seale,
Sunday Times -- Jonathan Groner - Salon.com'
Review
'“[Rashid is] Pakistans best and bravest reporter.”Christopher Hitchens,
Vanity Fair
-- Patrick Seale - Sunday Times'
Review
'“[A] thorough, authoritative exegesis.”Peter Bergen,
Washington Post Book World -- Christopher Hitchens - Vanity Fair'
Review
'\'“A brilliant work, engrossing and wholly convincing.”Neville Maxwell,
World Affairs -- Peter Bergen - Washington Post Book World\''
Review
“Matthew Levitt is undoubtedly one of the worlds foremost experts on Hamas and an outstanding commentator on terrorism in general. I read everything he writes, and I have a very high regard for his work.”Daniel Benjamin, former member of President Clintons National Security Council
-- Rein Mullerson - International History Review
Review
"In a compelling and authoritative manner, Matthew Levitt masterfully demonstrates that the charitable and social components of Hamas cannot be separated from its true terrorist nature."Dennis M. Lormel, former chief of the Terrorist Financing Operations Section at the Federal Bureau of Investigation
-- Daniel Benjamin
Review
“Far and away the best thing on this subject Ive ever seen; well-written, careful, professional, fascinating.”R. James Woolsey, former Director of Central Intelligence
-- Dennis M. Lormel
Review
'“A timely assessment of one of the worlds most prolific terrorist organizations. . . . Impeccably researched and compellingly presented.”
Publishers Weekly -- R. James Woolsey'
Review
“While many books have been written about Iraqs tragedy, Ali Allawis story offers a unique insiders perspective of the global forces, local passions and diverse personalities that converged to create a situation that will haunt us for decades. An indispensable source of ideas about what happened - and what is likely to happen - in Iraq.”Moises Naim, editor in chief of Foreign Policy magazine and author of Illicit: How Smugglers, Traffickers and Copycats are Hijacking the Global Economy -- Aharon Barak
Review
“Magisterial. . . . Pure gold. . . . Will certainly become the benchmark work against which all later books will have to be measured. It is authoritative, incisive, dispassionate, devastating in its important judgments, and wholly original. Allawi is one of a handful of men who can tell the whole story of policy, government and administration from the basis of close, personal experience.”Roger Owen, Harvard University -- Moises Naim
Review
“A comprehensive survey of the occupation of Iraq that highlights the complacency and failings of the American project. This is a sobering account, written from the rare view of an Iraqi insider. Allawi reveals how often the Iraqis were ignored in the chaotic rebuilding of their country and explains the complex dynamics behind Iraqs descent into violent sectarainism.”Rory McCarthy, Jerusalem correspondent for the Guardian and author of Nobody Told Us We Are Defeated: Stories from the New Iraq -- Roger Owen
Review
“Ali A. Allawi, until recently an Iraqi minister, is one of Iraqs most respected politicians of the post-Saddam era. His study of the crisis in Iraq is by far the most perceptive analysis of the extent of the disaster in his country, and how it might best be resolved. It is the first real attempt to suggest the Middle East might pull out of its death spiral."--Patrick Cockburn, correspondent for the Independent and author of The Occupation: War and Resistance in Iraq -- Rory McCarthy
Review
“Nobody was better situated than Allawi to provide readeres with unique insights to the events leading up to the invasion of Iraq and how the occupation and reconstruction efforts were handled."--Frederick Smith, United States Department of Defence -- Patrick Cockburn
Review
'\"The most comprehensive historical account to date of the disastrous aftermath of the American invasion.\"Edward Wong, New York Times Book Review -- Frederick Smith'
Review
'\"Poignant. . . . Others have chronicled what went wrong [with the invasion of Iraq]. Few have witnessed events so close up, and with so intimate a knowledge of the gap between (Iraq) reality and (American) expectation.\"Daniel Pudles, The Economist -- Edward Wong - New York Times Book'
Review
"Ali Allawi . . . tells the wars story from an Iraqi perspective. But what makes The Occupation of Iraq perhaps the most compelling of all books written to date about the war is that he does so with Americans in mind."World Magazine -- Daniel Pudles - The Economist
Review
“To be constructive, rational, and moderate in the Arab Middle East may be the most dangerous approach of all; Muasher therefore exhibits courage as well as intellectual energy applied toward making a positive
contribution.”Charles Hill, Diplomat-in-Residence, Yale University
-- John F. Wasik - Boston Globe
Review
“Must reading for those who recognize that a comprehensive strategic approach to the Middle East is indispensable to a more stable and secure U.S. and world.”Mara Rudman, former Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and Chief of Staff for the National Security Council
-- Charles Hill
Review
"Few Arab thinkers are better positioned to discuss the challenge to moderation in the Middle East, and I hope that Marwan Muashers distinguished voice of reason and pragmatism will be heard well beyond our region."His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan
-- Mara Rudman
Review
"Marwan Muasher is not just a witness, but also an active participant and a shaper of realities in the Middle East. His book is indeed a valuable and unique contribution to the field with insights, inside information, and a superb grasp of history in the making. Such an authentic Arab voice from within, writing in English to engage a Western readership, is an opportunity not to be missed. I have developed the greatest respect for his integrity, courage, and humanityprecisely those qualities that make his book exceptional."Hanan Ashrawi
-- His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan
Review
"A fascinating inside look by a 50-year-old Arab statesman, the first to write a book in English, who was privy to all the secret machinations since the age of 30."Arnaud de Borchgrave,
UPI Editor-at-Large
-- Hanan Ashrawi
Review
"Excellent."Al Kamen, Washington Post -- Arnaud de Borchgrave - UPI
Review
"[This is] one of the most important books on the Middle East, and is required reading for everyone interested in finding solutions to the many problems the region faces today. . . .Arab leaders, and Americas next president, would do well to heed the experiences and advice of an Arab statesman."Scott MacLeod,Times Middle East Blog by Cairo Bureau Chief -- Al Kamen - Washington Post
Review
"Muashers book raises what may be the most damning criticism of the Bush administrations Middle East policy that it has unwittingly undercut the very people the United States wanted most to help."David Ignatius, Washington Post -- Scott MacLeod - Time
Review
"A gem of memoir as history, The Arab Center traces the torturous negotiations among Israel, the Palestinians, the Arab states, and the outside world from 1991 to 2004, with well-chosen documents appended."L. Carl Brown, Foreign Affairs -- David Ignatius - Washington Post
Review
". . . One of [The Arab Centers] important contributions . . . is to question the meaning of an Arab moderate and the selective application of moderation to a single issuethe pursuit of a two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. . . ."Roula Khalaf, Financial Times -- L. Carl Brown - Foreign Affairs
Review
"The Arab Center . . . is worth reading for both the valor and the failures it describes. . . . It has the credibility, factual specificity and reflective, often self-critical, analysis that official government statements and authorized histories usually lack."Rami G. Khouri, Middle East Times -- Roula Khalaf - Financial Times
Review
"In this painstakingly fair-minded and sensible memoir [Muasher] tries to show why there is still no solution to the Palestinian-Israeli imbroglio. . . . The next American president would do well to peruse Mr. Muashers offering."The Economist -- Rami G. Khouri - Middle East Times
Review
"The Arab Center is in part a politic -- The Economist
Review
'“. . . a challenging and ambitious effort . . . thoughtful, pertinent and informative . . . I have no hesitation in recommending [
The Crisis of Islamic Civilisation] to others, Muslims and non-Muslims alike.” Muhammad Khan,
Muslim News -- Tandy McConnell - Church History - The Economist'
Review
'\". . . Allawis work is a searing indictment of Islamic societies but not of Islam itself . . . his expositions of the ideas of Muslim thinkers are exemplary in their lucidity . . . I learnt a lot from this book.” Literary Review -- Muhammad Khan - Muslim News'
Review
'\"Like many other disappointed politicians, Ali Allawi turned to the consolations of philosophy and religion. The result is a remarkably thoughtful and engaging assessment of the current state and future prospects of the world of Islam.\"Martin Walker, Wilson Quarterly -- Literary Review'
Review
' “A take no doubt burdened by the horrors hes witnessed on the ground, not to mention the frustration of creating a truly functioning government in Baghdad.”
The Washington Post Political Bookworm -- Martin Walker - Wilson Quarterly'
Review
'“[A] valuable and informative work.”Richard Bernstein, New York Times (on the first edition) -- The Quarterly Review of Biology'
Review
'“Virtually the only informed work on the men who, since 1994, have ruled almost all of Afghanistan. . . . [An] indispensable book.”--Steve Wasserman,
Los Angeles Times Book Review (on the first edition)
-- Richard Bernstein - New York Times'
Review
'“[Rashid is] Pakistans best and bravest reporter.”Christopher Hitchens, Vanity Fair -- Steve Wasserman - Los Angeles Times Book Review'
Review
' “The standard work in English on the Taliban.”--Christopher de Bellaigue,
New York Review of Books (on the first edition)
-- Christopher Hitchens - Vanity Fair'
Synopsis
A distinguished scholar of international politics clarifies what is widely misunderstood in the West: Islam and Islamism are not two words for the same thing
Despite the intense media focus on Muslims and their religion since the tragedy of 9/11, few Western scholars or policymakers today have a clear idea of the distinctions between Islam and the politically based fundamentalist movement known as Islamism. In this important and illuminating book, Bassam Tibi, a senior scholar of Islamic politics, provides a corrective to this dangerous gap in our understanding. He explores the true nature of contemporary Islamism and the essential ways in which it differs from the religious faith of Islam.
Drawing on research in twenty Islamic countries over three decades, Tibi describes Islamism as a political ideology based on a reinvented version of Islamic law. In separate chapters devoted to the major features of Islamism, he discusses the Islamist vision of state order, the centrality of antisemitism in Islamist ideology, Islamism's incompatibility with democracy, the reinvention of jihadism as terrorism, the invented tradition of shari'a law as constitutional order, and the Islamists' confusion of the concepts of authenticity and cultural purity. Tibi's concluding chapter applies elements of Hannah Arendt's theory to identify Islamism as a totalitarian ideology.
Synopsis
'Shrouding themselves and their aims in deepest secrecy, the leaders of the Taliban movement control Afghanistan with an inflexible, crushing fundamentalism. The most extreme and radical of all Islamic organizations, the Taliban inspires fascination, controversy, and especially fear in both the Muslim world and the West. Correspondent Ahmed Rashid brings the shadowy world of the Taliban into sharp focus in this enormously interesting and revealing book. It is the only authoritative account of the Taliban and modern day Afghanistan available to English language readers.
Based on his experiences as a journalist covering the civil war in Afghanistan for twenty years, traveling and living with the Taliban, and interviewing most of the Taliban leaders since their emergence to power in 1994, Rashid offers unparalleled firsthand information. He explains how the growth of Taliban power has already created severe instability in Russia, Iran, Pakistan, and five Central Asian republics. He describes the Talibans role as a major player in a new Great Game”a competition among Western countries and companies to build oil and gas pipelines from Central Asia to Western and Asian markets. The author also discusses the controversial changes in American attitudes toward the Talibanfrom early support to recent bombings of Osama Bin Ladens hideaway and other Taliban-protected terrorist basesand how they have influenced the stability of the region.
'
Synopsis
From the first Arab-Islamic Empire of the mid-seventh century to the Ottomans, the last great Muslim empire, the story of the Middle East has been the story of the rise and fall of universal empires and, no less important, of imperialist dreams. So argues Efraim Karsh in this highly provocative book. Rejecting the conventional Western interpretation of Middle Eastern history as an offshoot of global power politics, Karsh contends that the regions experience is the culmination of long-existing indigenous trends, passions, and patterns of behavior, and that foremost among these is Islams millenarian imperial tradition.
The author explores the history of Islams imperialism and the persistence of the Ottoman imperialist dream that outlasted World War I to haunt Islamic and Middle Eastern politics to the present day. September 11 can be seen as simply the latest expression of this dream, and such attacks have little to do with U.S. international behavior or policy in the Middle East, says Karsh. The House of Islams war for world mastery is traditional, indeed venerable, and it is a quest that is far from over.
Synopsis
How does a group that operates terror cells and espouses violence become a ruling political party? How is the world to understand and respond to Hamas, the militant Islamist organization that Palestinian voters brought to power in the stunning election of January 2006?
This important book provides the most fully researched assessment of Hamas ever written. Matthew Levitt, a counterterrorism expert with extensive field experience in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, draws aside the veil of legitimacy behind which Hamas hides. He presents concrete, detailed evidence from an extensive array of international intelligence materials, including recently declassified CIA, FBI, and Department of Homeland Security reports.
Levitt demolishes the notion that Hamas military, political, and social wings are distinct from one another and catalogues the alarming extent to which the organizations political and social welfare leaders support terror. He exposes Hamas as a unitary organization committed to a militant Islamist ideology, urges the international community to take heed, and offers well-considered ideas for countering the significant threat Hamas poses.
Synopsis
Involved for over thirty years in the politics of Iraq, Ali A. Allawi was a long-time opposition leader against the Baathist regime. In the post-Saddam years he has held important government positions and participated in crucial national decisions and events. In this book, the former Minister of Defense and Finance draws on his unique personal experience, extensive relationships with members of the main political groups and parties in Iraq, and deep understanding of the history and society of his country to answer the baffling questions that persist about its current crises. What really led the United States to invade Iraq, and why have events failed to unfold as planned?
The Occupation of Iraq examines what the United States did and didnt know at the time of the invasion, the reasons for the confused and contradictory policies that were enacted, and the emergence of the Iraqi political class during the difficult transition process. The book tracks the growth of the insurgency and illuminates the complex relationships among Sunnis, Shias, and Kurds. Bringing the discussion forward to the reconfiguration of political forces in 2006, Allawi provides in these pages the clearest view to date of the modern history of Iraq and the invasion that changed its course in unpredicted ways.
Synopsis
Marwan Muasher, a prominent Jordanian diplomat, has been instrumental in shaping Middle East peace efforts for nearly twenty years. He served as Jordans first ambassador to Israel and was also ambassador to the United States, spokesperson at peace talks in Madrid and Washington, minister of foreign affairs, and deputy prime minister in charge of reform. Here he recounts the behind-the-scenes details of diplomatic ventures over the past two decades, including such recent undertakings as the Arab Peace Initiative and the Middle East Road Map.
Muashers insights into internal Arab politics and the successes and failures of the Arab Center are uniquely informed and deeply felt. He assesses how the middle road approach to reform is faring and explains why current tactics used by the West to deal with Islamic groups are doomed to failure. He examines why the Arab Center has made so little progress and which Arab, Israeli, and American policies need rethinking. Part memoir and part analysis, this book reveals the human side of the Arab-Israeli conflict. It is essential reading for all who share the hope that moderate, pragmatic Arab voices will be heard in todays vitriolic debates over how to achieve an enduring peace in the Middle East.
Synopsis
Islam as a religion is central to the lives of over a billion people, but its outer expression as a distinctive civilization has been undergoing a monumental crisis. Buffeted by powerful adverse currents, Islamic civilization today is a shadow of its former self. The most disturbing and possibly fatal of these currentsthe imperial expansion of the West into Muslim lands and the blast of modernity that accompanied itare now compounded by a third giant wave, globalization.
These forces have increasingly tested Islam and Islamic civilization for validity, adaptability, and the ability to hold on to the loyalty of Muslims, says Ali A. Allawi in his provocative new book. While the faith has proved resilient in the face of these challenges, other aspects of Islamic civilization have atrophied or died, Allawi contends, and Islamic civilization is now undergoing its last crisis.
The book explores how Islamic civilization began to unravel under colonial rule, as its institutions, laws, and economies were often replaced by inadequate modern equivalents. Allawi also examines the backlash expressed through the increasing religiosity of Muslim societies and the spectacular rise of political Islam and its terrorist offshoots. Assessing the status of each of the building blocks of Islamic civilization, the author concludes that Islamic civilization cannot survive without the vital spirituality that underpinned it in the past. He identifies a key set of principles for moving forward, principles that will surprise some and anger others, yet clearly must be considered.
Synopsis
A distinguished scholar of international politics clarifies what is widely misunderstood in the West: Islam and Islamism are not two words for the same thing
Synopsis
Despite the intense media focus on Muslims and their religion since the tragedy of 9/11, few Western scholars or policymakers today have a clear idea of the distinctions between Islam and the politically based fundamentalist movement known as Islamism. In this important and illuminating book, Bassam Tibi, a senior scholar of Islamic politics, provides a corrective to this dangerous gap in our understanding. He explores the true nature of contemporary Islamism and the essential ways in which it differs from the religious faith of Islam.
Drawing on research in twenty Islamic countries over three decades, Tibi describes Islamism as a political ideology based on a reinvented version of Islamic law. In separate chapters devoted to the major features of Islamism, he discusses the Islamist vision of state order, the centrality of antisemitism in Islamist ideology, Islamism's incompatibility with democracy, the reinvention of jihadism as terrorism, the invented tradition of shari'a law as constitutional order, and the Islamists' confusion of the concepts of authenticity and cultural purity. Tibi's concluding chapter applies elements of Hannah Arendt's theory to identify Islamism as a totalitarian ideology.
About the Author
'Called Pakistans best and bravest reporter” by Christopher Hitchens in Vanity Fair, Ahmed Rashid was a correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review for more than twenty years, covering Pakistan, Afghanistan, and central Asia. He now writes for BBC Online, the Washington Post, El Mundo, the International Herald Tribune, the New York Review of Books, and other foreign and Pakistani newspapers. He has been covering the wars in Afghanistan, as well as the wars in Pakistan and Tajikistan, since 1979. He is the author of Descent into Chaos and Jihad.'