Descent into chaos: the United States and the failure of nation building in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia / Ahmed Rashid

Includes bibliography and index.

Countries and Cities of Central Asia -- Ethnic Distribution Within Pakistan and Afghanistan -- Afghan Provinces and Federally Administered Tribal Areas -- NATO Deployment and Provincial Reconstruction Team Locations in Afghanistan, 2007 -- Opium Poppy Cultivation in Afghanistan, 2007 -- Military Offensives Launched by the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan, 2007-2008 -- Introduction: Imperial Overreach and Nation Building -- Part 1. 9/11 and War -- 1. A Man With a Mission: The Unending Conflict in Afghanistan -- 2. "The U.S. Will Act Like a Wounded Bear": Pakistan's Long Search for Its Soul -- 3. The Chief Executive's Schizophrenia: Pakistan, the United Nations, and the United States Before 9/11 -- 4. Attack!: Retaliation and Invasion -- 5. The Search for a Settlement: Afghanistan and Pakistan at Odds -- Part 2. The Politics of the Post-9/11 World -- 6. A Nuclear State of Mind: India, Pakistan, and the War of Permanent Instability -- 7. The One-Billion-Dollar Warlords: The War Within Afghanistan -- 8. Musharraf's Lost Moment: Political Expediency and Authoritarian Rule -- Part 3. The Failure of Nation Building -- 9. Afghanistan I: Economic Reconstruction -- 10. Afghanistan II: Rebuilding Security -- 11. Double-Dealing with Islamic Extremism: Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan -- 12. Taliban Resurgent: The Taliban Return Home -- Part 4. Descent Into Chaos -- 13. Al Qaeda's Bolt-Hole: Pakistan's Tribal Areas -- 14. America Shows the Way: The Disappeared and the Rendered -- 15. Drugs and Thugs: Opium Fuels the Insurgency -- 16. Who Lost Uzbekistan?: Tyranny in Central Asia -- 17. The Taliban Offensive: Battling for Control of Afghanistan, 2006-2007 -- 18. Conclusion: The Death of an Icon and a Fragile Future.