Pakistan on the Brink
The Future of America, Pakistan, and Afghanistan
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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
What are the possibilities—and hazards—facing America as it withdraws from Afghanistan and reviews its long engagement in Pakistan? Where is the Taliban now in both of these countries? What does the immediate future hold, and what are America’s choices going forward? These are some of the crucial questions that Ahmed Rashid—Pakistan’s preeminent journalist—takes on in this follow-up to his acclaimed Descent into Chaos.
The escalation of the war in Afghanistan has deepened a long-standing crisis in its neighbor to the east. Pakistan’s political and military leadership has exhibited neither the courage nor the will to carry out major reforms in the country’s foreign and economic policies. The Pakistani state still fosters many extremist jihadi fighters, even as the Pakistani Taliban directly threaten that very state. Social services are near collapse, law enforcement is abysmal, economic hardship is widespread, natural disasters occur with little government assistance, and the majority of the population has no security. During the first years of the Obama administration, the critical U.S.-Pakistan relationship has been in a state of virtual meltdown. American strategy has reflected contradictory policies, intense political infighting, and uncertainty about U.S. aims in the region.
All parties to the conflict in Afghanistan and to the deterioration in Pakistan have made terrible mistakes, acting with arrogance, hubris, rigidity, and stubbornness. While struggles for democracy are occurring in countries that have hitherto known nothing but dictatorship, South and Central Asia, the birthplace of Al Qaeda, remains beset by extremist groups and nuclear weapons. Yet Afghanistan and Pakistan have a greater impact on global stability than anywhere else, and the decisions made by America and the West in the coming years about Pakistan will affect the security and safety of the world.
For three decades, Ahmed Rashid has reported, written, and spoken about the wars and political events he has witnessed and has been lauded internationally for his levelheaded, informed insights. As an up-to-date briefing from one of the world’s leading experts, and as an exhortation toward peace and understanding, Pakistan on the Brink is Rashid’s most urgent book.
©2012 Ahmed Rashid (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Putin's World examines the country's turbulent past, how it has influenced Putin, the Russians' understanding of their position on the global stage and their future ambitions—and their conviction that the West has tried to deny them a seat at the table of great powers since the USSR collapsed.
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More like The West against the world
- By Felis N on 01-18-20
By: Angela Stent
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Surge
- My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War
- By: Peter R. Mansoor, General David Petraeus - foreword
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 17 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Surge is an insider's view of the most decisive phase of the Iraq War. Using newly declassified documents, unpublished manuscripts, interviews, author notes, and published sources, Surge explains how President George W. Bush, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Ambassador Crocker, General Petraeus, and other U.S. and Iraqi political and military leaders shaped the surge from the center of the maelstrom in Baghdad and Washington.
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Helpful for the Army War College
- By BBP on 02-24-18
By: Peter R. Mansoor, and others
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Directorate S
- The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan
- By: Steve Coll
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 28 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Resuming the narrative of his Pulitzer Prize-winning Ghost Wars, best-selling author Steve Coll tells for the first time the epic and enthralling story of America's intelligence, military, and diplomatic efforts to defeat Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan since 9/11.
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Slow At Times But Always Horrifying And Engaging
- By Gillian on 02-20-18
By: Steve Coll
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The Plot to Scapegoat Russia
- How the CIA and the Deep State Have Conspired to Vilify Putin
- By: Dan Kovalik Esq.
- Narrated by: Alex Hyde-White
- Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Since 1945, the US has justified numerous wars, interventions, and military build-ups based on the pretext of the Russian Red Menace, even after the Soviet Union collapsed at the end of 1991 and Russia stopped being Red. In fact, the two biggest post-war American conflicts, the Korean and Vietnam wars, were not, as has been frequently claimed, about stopping Soviet aggression or even influence. And now the specter of a Russian Menace has been raised again in the wake of Donald Trump's victory.
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A Great Listen!
- By Mark Andreadis on 12-29-17
By: Dan Kovalik Esq.
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The Cold War
- A World History
- By: Odd Arne Westad
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 22 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Cold War, Odd Arne Westad offers a new perspective on a century when a superpower rivalry and an ideological war transformed every corner of our globe. We traditionally think of the Cold War as a post-World War II diplomatic and military conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. But in this major new work, Westad argues that the conflict must be understood as a global ideological confrontation with roots in the industrial revolution and with continuing implications for the world today.
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A lenghy treatise on the Cold War
- By Donald Hill on 11-21-17
By: Odd Arne Westad
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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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Ghost Wars
- The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001
- By: Steve Coll
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 26 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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The explosive first-hand account of America's secret history in Afghanistan. With the publication of Ghost Wars, Steve Coll became not only a Pulitzer Prize winner, but also the expert on the rise of the Taliban, the emergence of Bin Laden, and the secret efforts by CIA officers and their agents to capture or kill Bin Laden in Afghanistan after 1998.
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An Exceptional Accomplishment
- By Joe on 11-08-13
By: Steve Coll
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Overthrow
- America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq
- By: Stephen Kinzer
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 15 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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"Regime change" did not begin with the administration of George W. Bush, but has been an integral part of U.S. foreign policy for more than one hundred years. Starting with the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893 and continuing through the Spanish-American War and the Cold War and into our own time, the United States has not hesitated to overthrow governments that stood in the way of its political and economic goals.
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Looking at the dark side
- By Stanley on 08-02-06
By: Stephen Kinzer
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Confront and Conceal
- Obama's Secret Wars and Surprising Use of American Power
- By: David E. Sanger
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 15 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Three and a half years ago, David Sanger’s book The Inheritance: The World Obama Confronts and the Challenges to American Power described how a new American president came to office with the world on fire. Now, just as the 2012 presidential election battle begins, Sanger follows up with an eye-opening, news-packed account of how Obama has dealt with those challenges, relying on innovative weapons and reconfigured tools of American power to try to manage a series of new threats.
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Sobering reminder on what the presidency requires
- By Marilyn on 09-03-12
By: David E. Sanger
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The Road to 9/11
- Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America
- By: Peter Dale Scott
- Narrated by: Raymond Todd
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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This is an ambitious, meticulous examination of how U.S. foreign policy since the 1960s has led to partial or total cover-ups of past domestic criminal acts, including, perhaps, the catastrophe of 9/11. Peter Dale Scott, whose previous books have investigated CIA involvement in southeast Asia, the drug wars, and the Kennedy assassination, here probes how the policies of presidents since Nixon have augmented the tangled bases for the 2001 terrorist attack.
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Full of Interesting Information, Hard to Follow
- By Blizzard on 09-20-13
By: Peter Dale Scott
What listeners say about Pakistan on the Brink
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- KrisKindle
- 03-28-12
Great Insight
What made the experience of listening to Pakistan on the Brink the most enjoyable?
The current assessment from somebody in the know.
What did you like best about this story?
The facts.
Have you listened to any of Arthur Morey’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
No.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
No.
Any additional comments?
Had to read this after having read Ahmed Rashid“s
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- Harry Zimmer
- 04-23-12
A Very Long NPR-like Interview and History Lesson
Would you try another book from Ahmed Rashid and/or Arthur Morey?
Maybe. I bought this audio book based on Ahmed Rashid being interviewed on NPR. The book is strong from a US point of view but weak (in terms of real insight) from a Pakistan point of view.
Would you recommend Pakistan on the Brink to your friends? Why or why not?
It is worthwhile listening to this audio book if you want a very good history lesson.
Which character – as performed by Arthur Morey – was your favorite?
None.
Could you see Pakistan on the Brink being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?
No not really. Maybe a PBS Frontline episode.
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3 people found this helpful
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- megan S
- 06-15-15
Good introduction to current events
I really liked the questions posed by the author and possible solutions to the future. Reading this book gives a novice on South Eastern politics a plunge into what happened in the last decade and how it will impact the current generation and the decade ahead. It's an easy, relatively quick audible book. Pakistan on the Brink really helps capture the so - what of America's decisions now and how they'll ultimately impair or improve the deep rooted problems that plague this historically rich cultural region.
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- Walden
- 02-05-22
Great foundational book to understand Pakistan
Rashid's Pakistan is excellent for those seeking general political and social context of Pakistan. A few details won't convey the overall impressions that reading the book will. If you want to understand both the historical and modern tensions and forces that created Pakistan and it's collective public opinions, read this book.
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- F. Rafiq
- 06-07-12
Rashid's realist turn.
Where does Pakistan on the Brink rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
A good listen and mostly confirms what has been reported from various American and Pakistani sources. Rashid's dramatic advocacy of dealing with the Taliban is new and is in lieu of his recognition that the NATO alliance cannot remain in the region in its present from, it is too expensive and deeply unpopular at home. Furthermore, Afghans and Pakistanis have to lead the way for development, reconciliation, and political formation of their democracies to emerge in an evolutionary process that takes generations. It cannot be imposed from distant powers however powerful they may be.
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1 person found this helpful
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- DP SINGHA
- 10-01-21
Insightful & Truthful Book
Highly researched and deep.insight into
AF-PAK Region . Author presents some
Hard hitting "realities" not many people
are aware of. Surprisingly it has equal number
facts on US GOVT and its functioning in
the US Longest War of 20 years.
it first informs the readers with deep knowledge
then -it makes them think.
its a. Book which cannot be missed by anyone who
wishes to learn or educate himself/herself -or- function in South Asia -or- Central Asia.
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- Michael Moore
- 06-05-12
Useful Introduction to the Puzzle of Pakistan
This book provides a very useful framework for making some sense of the strange behavior that Pakistan often seems to exhibit in its relations with the US and the Western world. It is also a very informative introduction to the tangled politics, ethnic conflicts, economic backwardness and religious extremism that characterize elements of Pakistani and Afghan society and account for much of the violence that we often see in news headlines. These factors make it clearly wishful thinking to assume that all will be well once the US and NATO forces depart Afghanistan in 2014. Given the presence in Pakistan of nuclear weapons and its apparent inability to control violent extremist and terrorist movements within its own borders, Pakistan will continue to be a serious concern of the US and all countries concerned with the threat posed by international terrorists.
The picture the author paints of Pakistan is not a flattering one: a dysfunctional government in which the civilian politicians defer to the military establishment (including the now-notorious ISI) on national security and foreign policy; a government budget that devotes 60% of its resources to military expenditures largely focused on India rather than economic development or the more serious threat posed by internal militias in the tribal areas; a society in which the political parties are built around influential families rather than broad-based democratic associations; a judiciary that is frightened of convicting terrorists brought into court because of outside threats; and a military that continues to allow the Afghan Taliban sanctuary in Pakistani tribal areas so long as they do not attack Pakistani forces and direct their fire only at US forces in Afghanistan. How could the US not be frustrated and angry with such an ???ally???? To be fair and not mentioned in the book, one should recall that Pakistan was instrumental in capturing some of the high-ranking Al Qaeda members who sought hiding places in Pakistan in 2002 and 2003. How Bin Laden was able to stay undetected so long in Pakistan is a later story and one that is of course at best a major embarrassment to the Pakistani military and security services.
The author is clearly expressing his own views through much of the book and it is difficult without more background to know how accurate he is on all points. Nevertheless, the book provides a sobering introduction to the realities and complexities of dealing with the problems posed by the conflicting parties and movements striving (oftentimes with brutal violence) for power and influence in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Sam Motes
- 05-21-14
Pakistan in depth
Intersting insight into the sectarian divides within the nation and the regional and international forces at play in making the Pakistan of today. It goes along way to explain the forces at play in Afghanistan as well. It was a very interesting read for anyone interested in world politics.
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