Taliban Militant Islam, oil, and fundamentalism in Central Asia

Rashid, a journalist of Pakistani descent, covered the war in Afghanistan for 21 years, and in this book he brings urgency to a conflict in Central Asia of which most Americans and many Europeans are mostly ignorant. He reveals a nation with a rich culture of contradictions and complexities that have never been fathomed by its numerous conquerors: the Persians, Mongols, British, Soviets, and Pakistanis. Rashid examines the social, economic, and political cost of fighting off its rulers as Afghanistan is beset with drugs, weapons, corruption, and violence. He focuses on the rise of the Taliban, which translates as "students of Islam," prompted by a moral void in a religious land. The fundamentalist movement aims to restore respect for Islam, but in its strict interpretation of Islam it is guilty of its own forms of repression, particularly against women. Heroin and other drugs become central to the Taliban economy. Western interests in the oil pipelines and the drug trafficking through Afghanistan promise to keep this troubled nation "important" to Americans. --Vernon Ford

Afghanistan's position as a crossroads in Central Asia made it part of the 19th-century Great Game of imperialism and brings it to international strategic prominence once again. Rashid is a correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review who has covered Afghanistan's changing fortunes since the 1978 Soviet invasion. In his second book, he covers the origin and rise of the Taliban, its concepts of Islam on questions of gender roles and drugs, and the importance of the country to the development of energy resources in the region. His account of the Taliban's origins among the Pashtun refugees in Pakistani camps and their minimal education in Koranic schools from poorly educated teachers explains their lack of knowledge of the history and culture of their own country and of what it means to govern. The failed state that is now Afghanistan threatens to destabilize its neighbors by exporting both drugs and extremist views. Unlike Peter Marsden's Taliban: War Religion and the New Order in Afghanistan (Oxford Univ., 1998), this new work emphasizes the international implications of the Taliban and its government. A lucid and thoroughly researched account, it is recommended for academic and most public libraries.--Marcia L. Sprules, Council on Foreign Relations Lib., New York (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.