Our contributors' publications
Buzkashi: Game and power in Afghanistan (3rd edition, may 2011) by Whitney Azoy
Much has happened since Buzkashi: Game and Power in Afghanistan first appeared; the past three decades have devastated Afghanistan. Replete with significant updates, including a new chapter profiling Afghanistan's past and recent struggles, this richly illustrated Third Edition remains the first and only full-scale anthropological examination of a single sport, buzkashi, as well as a beautifully written longitudinal case study about the game s social significance.
Azoy first describes how the game of buzkashi is played and introduces readers to its rich history, its roots in tradition, and the implicit and explicit meanings attached to it. Next, readers learn about the author's fieldwork and his ex-pat diplomatic experiences, including his personal journey toward understanding the complexities of this ancient game with its "wild-card quality." Azoy's captivating descriptions and his incisive analysis of buzkashi as a metaphor for political control and chaos, provide a window into the volatile nature of Afghanistan's political autonomy.
Azoy first describes how the game of buzkashi is played and introduces readers to its rich history, its roots in tradition, and the implicit and explicit meanings attached to it. Next, readers learn about the author's fieldwork and his ex-pat diplomatic experiences, including his personal journey toward understanding the complexities of this ancient game with its "wild-card quality." Azoy's captivating descriptions and his incisive analysis of buzkashi as a metaphor for political control and chaos, provide a window into the volatile nature of Afghanistan's political autonomy.
Al-Qaeda: The true story of radical Islam by Jason Burke
Aims to reveal the story of al-Qaeda and demolish the myths
that underpin the 'war on terror'. This book demonstrates that
'al-Qaeda' is merely a convenient label applied by the West to a far
broader and more dangerous phenomenon of Islamic militancy, and shows
how eradicating a single figure or group will do nothing to combat
terrorism.
Award-winning reporter Jason Burke shows how the threat from Islamic terrorism comes not from a single criminal mastermind, or even from one group. In this revealing account, he characterizes it is a broad movement with profound roots in the politics, societies and history of the Islamic world. Using hundreds of interviews and thousands of documents, Burke shows how "Al-Qaeda" is a convenient label applied misleadingly to a diverse, disorganized global movement dedicated to fighting a "cosmic battle" with the West.
Award-winning reporter Jason Burke shows how the threat from Islamic terrorism comes not from a single criminal mastermind, or even from one group. In this revealing account, he characterizes it is a broad movement with profound roots in the politics, societies and history of the Islamic world. Using hundreds of interviews and thousands of documents, Burke shows how "Al-Qaeda" is a convenient label applied misleadingly to a diverse, disorganized global movement dedicated to fighting a "cosmic battle" with the West.
Jihad: the rise of militant Islam in Central Asia by Ahmed Rashid
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.
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.
The Sewing circles of Herat: a memoir of Afghanistan by Christina Lamb
A gold-inscribed invitation to a wedding in Pakistan led Christina Lamb to leave suburban England for Peshawar - a town perched on the frontier of the Afghan war - at the age of just 21. Captivated by the Afghans she met, for two years she tracked the final stages of the mujaheddin victory over the Soviets as Afghan friends smuggled her in and out of their country in a variety of guises - from burqa-clad wife to Kandahari boy - travelling by foot, on donkeys, or hidden under the floor of an ambulance. Long haunted by her experiences in Afghanistan, Lamb returned there after the 2001 attack on the World Trade Centre to find out what had become of the people and places that had marked her life as a young graduate. This time seeing the land through the eyes of a mother and experienced foreign correspondent, Lamb's journey brings her in touch with the people no one else is writing about: the abandoned victims of almost a quarter century of war.
The Afghan solution - The inside story of Abdul Haq, the CIA, and how Western hubris lost Afghanistan by Lucy Morgan Edwards
This is the story of the Afghan solution to the Taliban, why the West thwarted that plan and what it means for NATO as it seeks to stabilize and exit from Afghanistan today.
"An insight into the Peace Plan that might have averted the conflict; something that western policy makers must be aware of as they seek to stabilise the situation and to extricate NATO forces from Afghanistan. A wonderful account … essential to understanding the history of this tragedy."
William Pfaff, author of the Irony of Manifest Destiny: The Tragedy of America’s Foreign Policy and longtime columnist for the International Herald Tribune.
Visit Lucy Morgan Edwards' page at: http://lucymorganedwards.com/
"An insight into the Peace Plan that might have averted the conflict; something that western policy makers must be aware of as they seek to stabilise the situation and to extricate NATO forces from Afghanistan. A wonderful account … essential to understanding the history of this tragedy."
William Pfaff, author of the Irony of Manifest Destiny: The Tragedy of America’s Foreign Policy and longtime columnist for the International Herald Tribune.
Visit Lucy Morgan Edwards' page at: http://lucymorganedwards.com/
Berlin 1961: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and the most dangerous place on Earth by Frederick Kempe
Much has been written about the Cuban Missile Crisis a year later, but
the Berlin Crisis of 1961 was more decisive in shaping the Cold War-and
more perilous. For the first time in history, American and Soviet
fighting men and tanks stood arrayed against each other, only yards
apart. One mistake, one overzealous commander-and the trip wire would be
sprung for a war that would go nuclear in a heartbeat. On one side was a
young, untested U.S. president still reeling from the Bay of Pigs
disaster. On the other, a Soviet premier hemmed in by the Chinese, the
East Germans, and hard-liners in his own government. Neither really
understood the other, both tried cynically to manipulate events. And so,
week by week, the dangers grew.
Based on a wealth of new documents and interviews, filled with fresh- sometimes startling-insights, written with immediacy and drama, Berlin 1961 is a masterly look at key events of the twentieth century, with powerful applications to these early years of the twenty- first.
Based on a wealth of new documents and interviews, filled with fresh- sometimes startling-insights, written with immediacy and drama, Berlin 1961 is a masterly look at key events of the twentieth century, with powerful applications to these early years of the twenty- first.
