Descent into Chaos
The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia
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Narrated by:
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Arthur Morey
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By:
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Ahmed Rashid
About this listen
Ahmed Rashid is "Pakistan's best and bravest reporter" (Christopher Hitchens). His unique knowledge of this vast and complex region allows him a panoramic vision and nuance that no Western writer can emulate.
His book Taliban introduced American readers to the brutal regime that hijacked Afghanistan and harbored the terrorist group responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Now, Rashid examines Central Asia, and the corridors of power in Washington and Europe, to see how the promised nation building in the region has progressed.
His conclusions are devastating: an unstable and nuclear-armed Pakistan, a renewed al Qaeda profiting from a booming opium trade, and a Taliban resurgence and reconquest.
While Iraq continues to attract most of the American media and military might, Rashid argues that Pakistan and Afghanistan are where the conflict will finally be played out and that these failing states pose a graver threat to global security than does the Middle East.
Benazir Bhutto's assassination and the crisis on Pakistan are only the beginning. Rashid assesses what her death means for the region and the future. Rashid has unparalleled access to the figures in this global drama and provides up-to- the-minute analysis better than anyone else. Descent into Chaos will do for Central Asia what Thomas Ricks' Fiasco did for Iraq - offer a blistering critique of recent American policy and an impassioned call to correct our failed strategy in the region.
©2008 Ahmed Rashid (P)2008 Brilliance AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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The Endgame is Michael R. Gordon and General Bernard E. Trainor's most ambitious and news-breaking book to date. A peerless work of investigative journalism and historical recreation ranging from 2003 to 2012, it gives us the first comprehensive, inside account of arguably the most widely reported yet least understood war in American history - from the occupation of Iraq to the withdrawal of American troops.
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Interesting Perspective, but One-Sided
- By Benjamin on 02-09-14
By: Michael R. Gordon, and others
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A World of Trouble
- The White House and the Middle East
- By: Patrick Tyler
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 27 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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The Middle East is the beginning and the end of U.S. foreign policy: events there influence our alliances, make or break presidencies, govern the price of oil, and draw us into war. But it was not always so - and as Patrick Tyler shows in this thrilling chronicle of American misadventures in the region, the story of American presidents' dealings there is one of mixed motives, skulduggery, deceit, and outright foolishness, as well as of policymaking and diplomacy.
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Does't deliver
- By Matthew on 02-10-09
By: Patrick Tyler
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The Longest War
- America and Al-Qaeda Since 9/11
- By: Peter L. Bergen
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 16 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Longest War, Peter Bergen offers a comprehensive history of this war and its evolution, from the strategies devised in the wake of the 9/11 attacks to the fighting in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and beyond. Weaving together internal documents from al-Qaeda and the U.S. offices of counterterrorism, first-person interviews with top-level jihadists and senior Washington officials, along with his own experiences on the ground in the Middle East, Bergen balances the accounts of each side.
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More Bush bashing..yes, but still worth reading.
- By Dennis on 01-18-11
By: Peter L. Bergen
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The Fate of Africa
- A History of the Continent Since Independence
- By: Martin Meredith
- Narrated by: Fleet Cooper
- Length: 29 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Martin Meredith has revised this classic history to incorporate important recent developments, including the Darfur crisis in Sudan, Robert Mugabe’s continued destructive rule in Zimbabwe, controversies over Western aid and exploitation of Africa’s resources, the growing importance and influence of China, and the democratic movement roiling the North African countries of Tunisia, Egypt, and Jordan.
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Africa: Land of Hope and Horror
- By Jeff on 03-08-14
By: Martin Meredith
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Enemies and Neighbors
- Arabs and Jews in Palestine and Israel, 1917-2017
- By: Ian Black
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 20 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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In Enemies and Neighbors, Ian Black, who has spent over three decades covering events in the Middle East and is currently a fellow at the London School of Economics, offers a major new history of the Arab-Zionist conflict from 1917 to today. Laying the historical groundwork in the final decades of the Ottoman Era, when the first Zionist settlers arrived in the Holy Land, Black draws on a wide range of sources - from declassified documents to oral histories to his own vivid on-the-ground reporting - to recreate the major milestones in the most polarizing conflict of the modern age from both sides.
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Decent historical compilation, poor framing
- By Dan Harris on 07-08-20
By: Ian Black
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Anatomy of Terror
- From the Death of bin Laden to the Rise of the Islamic State
- By: Ali Soufan
- Narrated by: Aaron Abano
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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In Anatomy of Terror, former FBI special agent and New York Times best-selling author Ali Soufan dissects bin Laden's brand of jihadi terrorism and its major offshoots, revealing how these organizations were formed, how they operate, their strengths, and - crucially - their weaknesses.
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What every human on the planet needs to know!
- By drkraver on 05-24-17
By: Ali Soufan
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Nemesis
- The Last Days of the American Republic
- By: Chalmers Johnson
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Drawing comparisons to empires past, Johnson explores in vivid detail the likely consequences of US dependence on a permanent war economy, and what it will mean when the globe's sole "hyperpower" is no longer capable of paying for the vaulting ambitions of its leaders - and becomes the greatest hyper-debtor of all time. In his stunning conclusion, Johnson suggests that the crisis of a financial breakdown could ultimately prove to be the only path to a renewed nation.
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The Book Bill O'Rielly Doesn't Want You To Read!
- By Joe on 04-04-07
By: Chalmers Johnson
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The Master Plan
- ISIS, al-Qaeda, and the Jihadi Strategy for Final Victory
- By: Brian Fishman
- Narrated by: Stephen R. Thorne
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Given how quickly its operations have achieved global impact, it may seem that the Islamic State materialized suddenly. In fact, al-Qaeda's operations chief, Sayf al-Adl, devised a seven-stage plan for jihadis to conquer the world by 2020 that included reestablishing the Caliphate in Syria between 2013 and 2016. Despite a massive schism between the Islamic State and al-Qaeda, al-Adl's plan has proved remarkably prescient. In summer 2014, ISIS declared itself the Caliphate after capturing Mosul, Iraq - part of stage five in al-Adl's plan.
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Fantastic, thorough overview
- By Ian Woods on 11-28-16
By: Brian Fishman
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The Arabs
- A History
- By: Eugene Rogan
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 27 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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In this definitive history of the modern Arab world, award-winning historian Eugene Rogan draws extensively on Arab sources and texts to place the Arab experience in its crucial historical context for the first time. Tracing five centuries of Arab history, Rogan reveals that there was an age when the Arabs set the rules for the rest of the world. Today, however, the Arab world's sense of subjection to external powers carries vast consequences for both the region and Westerners who attempt to control it.
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Superb Book About the Arab World
- By Nostromo on 05-29-16
By: Eugene Rogan
What listeners say about Descent into Chaos
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Alan
- 03-19-09
Excellent
This is a must read (listen to) book. The western press has done a miserable job of informing us on the dynamics at play in this critical region that has produced everything from suicide bombers to nuclear weapons. "Descent into Chaos" is an insider's account of how it became the mess it is and the monster it is becoming. More than a journalist, Ahmed Rashid is a warm-blooded, caring participant in the events he describes. I thought I was well-informed on Afghanistan and Pakistan until I listened to this book on a road trip through West Texas. The dissonance between the richness of this book and the barren void of West Texas was extreme and appropriate.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Dave
- 07-21-15
Most excellent!
Right or wrong, it's detailed and honest. I think he's right as he is indirectly supported by other independent, objective views.
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Overall
- John Robert BEHRMAN
- 02-24-09
Useful!
I was impressed with "Taliban", and was slightly put off by the polemic tone this book takes from the beginning, but I got over that quite early.
The good stuff:
1. By focusing on the internal decision making of the Pakistani and Afghan decision makers (Musharraf and Karzai, primarily), it helped me appreciate the effect of internal factors that I'd never have noticed or known how to process, even if I was living there, as a foreigner.
2. His contextual historical comments are very useful, but they jump around by issue and are hard to bring together. In each section he'll frame the history of the problem dealt with in that section, which helps me understand why it's a problem.
3. His harsh stance on most foreign decisions, including and especially those of the U.S., is etremely useful. Though he doesn't always fully explain the context of foreign decisions, that's fine (since this book isn't about them). The stance is useful for helping me understand what these decisions look like from another point of view.
Onto the negatives:
1. The narrator's abhorrent pronunciation of Arabic names is annoying and distracting. I cannot speak for his pronunciation of names from other central asian languages.
2. The author displays some imprecision in referring to American concepts - e.g., he says torture is forbidden by the U.S. Constititution, which is semantically imprecise; and he says that the PRTs were manned by "Special Operations Forces", which is technically true but misleading when juxtaposed with the description of Special forces. This makes me wonder if I fully understood his descriptions of things I'm less familiar with, like Pakistan.
3. Aside from his consistent stance (shoulda been nation building from the start), his policy recommendations jump around by issue, and are difficult to process as refinements to the original stance.
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15 people found this helpful
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- DP SINGHA
- 09-30-21
The TRUTH
Finally someone spoke the TRUTH and
Put things in right perspective.
Having read so many Books on Iraq,, Afghanistan, Gener Military WARFARE and Strategy with focus on US WARS.. I can say that... this is one of the most balanced perspective and gives a real.insight
on how the things are for REAL ... SOUTH -&- CENTRAL ASIA.
A Mist Read for All Americans who want to educate themselves in American Military history and particularly on Afghanistan-&- Pakistan.
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- Dann
- 07-23-10
WHAT???
Too long, but in saying that it has some very good info about both sides. I just wish The characters had names like Fred, Mike, Jeff, or Gordon. It would help in identifying each character in this book. This Mohammed, that Mohammed, the enormous long names most with different twists to the same set of names. After a while I couldn't keep them all apart. It's like hearing a story about a nation of clones.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Henry
- 01-21-16
Amazing, but a little esoteric
I have to begin by saying that I'm work in counterterrorism and often focus on Pakistan, so I may be biased. Rashid weaves a coherent narrative through the bizarre universe of south Asian conflict and politics.
This isn't as groundbreaking as Taliban, but if you have an interest in Pakistan or the roots of the numerous regional and domestic conflicts in South Asia then you should read this book. It's a good use of a credit.
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- Saadia
- 10-25-10
Reader was Unacceptable
This is a book about Central Asia and Islam. It is simply unacceptable then that the person chosen to read this book was unable to correctly pronounce the names of the main participants, cities, or ideas involved. Could the producers really not find anyone who could say "Musharraf" or "Peshawar" correctly? The constant mispronunciations were, at best, distracting. While the book itself may deserve more stars, Morey's reading does not.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Debali
- 11-08-08
Good book, but needs a better reader
While the reader of this work makes a valiant effort, he is simply unfamiliar with muslim names and languages and is therefore ill-equipped to properly narrate a book such as this. One wishes to have the proper pronunciation of proper nouns reinforced by purchasing the audio version of a book such as this. There are plenty of Pakistanis and Indians and perhaps even some Afghans who could read this work better than it is read here. It is altogether important that more appropriate readers be found, not only for this but for South Asian novels as well. This said, Rashid's book is important and if this is the only way you'll be able to find the time to read, go ahead and do it. The reader does not get in the way of the basic information and argument of a book written by one of the few in English who actually know what they are talking about when it comes to Afghanistan.
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11 people found this helpful
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- Florafolly
- 03-06-09
Not History, Simplistic viewpoint
I read the Taliban and liked it a lot. Descent into Chaos is very different. Rashid is only presenting his own viewpoint which he admits in the beginning. However, he is very simplistic in many of his views. He mischaracterizes the intellectual tradition of the neo-cons, says that central Asia is the birth place of terrorism, and says the US army is currently broken among other things.
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2 people found this helpful