Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia |
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| Title: | Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia |
| Author: | Ahmed Rashid |
| Publisher: | Yale University Press |
| Type: | Book / Hardcover |
| Publication Date: | 25 January, 2002 |
| ISBN / ISBN-13: | 0300093454 / 9780300093452 |
| List Price: | $25.00 |
| You Save: | $5.00 |
| Amazon Price: | $20.00 |
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Editorial Review / Publisher's Information:
Product Description
The terrorist attacks of September 11 have turned the world's attention to areas of the globe about which we know very little. Ahmed Rashid, who masterfully explained Afghanistan's Taliban regime in his previous book, here turns his skills as an investigative journalist to the five Central Asian republics adjacent to Afghanistan. Central Asia is coming to play a vital strategic role in the war on terrorism, but the region also poses new threats to global security. The five Central Asian republics-Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan-were part of the Soviet Union until its collapse in 1991. Under Soviet rule, Islam was brutally suppressed, and that intolerance has continued under the post-Soviet regimes. Religious repression, political corruption, and the region's extreme poverty (unemployment rates exceed 80 percent in some areas) have created a fertile climate for militant Islamic fundamentalism. Often funded and trained by such organizations as Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda and the Taliban, guerrilla movements like the IMU (Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan) have recruited a staggering number of members across the region and threaten to topple the governments of all five nations. Based on groundbreaking research and numerous interviews, Jihad explains the roots of militant rage in Central Asia, describes the goals and activities of these militant organizations, and suggests ways in which this threat could be neutralized by diplomatic and economic intervention. Rich in both cultural heritage and natural resources-including massive oil reservoirs-Central Asia remains desperately poor and frighteningly volatile. In tracing the history of Central Asia and explaining the current political climate, Rashid demonstrates that it is a region we ignore at our peril.
Amazon.com Review
In the aftermath of September 11, as Americans tried to figure out what they were up against, many of them turned to Ahmed Rashid's masterful book Taliban, the single best account of Afghanistan's murderous regime. With Jihad, Rashid offers an indispensable companion volume on five of Afghanistan's neighbors--Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan--and "the New Great Game" about to be waged over them between China, Russia, and the United States. "The vast, empty landscape dotted with oases of vibrant populations and political ferment, sitting on the world's last great untapped natural energy reserves, is almost as unknown to Westerners as it was to Europeans in the Middle Ages," writes Rashid, a Pakistani journalist with extensive experience reporting from the region. He describes the area's "growing instability," which he credits to a strain of militant Islam just like the form propagated by the Taliban and Osama bin Laden. One of the most interesting parts of Jihad concerns Juma Namangani, a shadowy rebel leader in Uzbekistan who has "cultivated an air of mystery that [is] even more extreme than that of the secretive [Taliban leader] Mullah Omar." Rashid concludes that radical Islam will remain popular in Central Asia as long as the governments there are oppressive. We ignore this part of the world at our peril, and there is no better guide to it than Rashid. --John Miller
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Customer Reviews:
• More Corrupt Regimes
09 January, 2010
Since the end of the Cold War several new Moslem nations have been created from the Southern provinces of the old Soviet empire. As with any new nations, they have had their share of teething trouble, although the 'Stans' have had more than most. Brutal regimes have responded to the Islamic resurgence with increased persecution and repression, supported by the US government all the while. Meanwhile, radical Islamic movements have been on the upswing.
Despite the sexy title, I didn't find this to be a very interesting work. Much of it is taken up with tales of government corruption, so common around the world. Rashid is one of the first, though, if not the first, to write about these new nations and the book deserves a couple of stars for that by itself. It is certainly worth reading if you have any need or desire to study the central asian republics.
I took issue with the author's thesis, however. Rashid is among a class of writers who, in situations of this kind, argue aid money must be used to build up infrastructure, health care and schools and not just the police and military. Failure to do this, he insists, only helps the jihadists recruit new members. But one may ask how all of this can be done during a war? The enemy must be crushed first, or all else is lost anyway.
- Amazon Customer Review
• Valuable And Important Book
22 February, 2007
Jihad by Ahmed Rashid provides an explanation for the rise of militant Islam in Central Asia. I purchased this book because I enjoyed another of Rashid's works, Taliban, and because it was on sale. Within the first few pages, the significance of Rashid's book is obvious. For one, the author is an objective journalist (that term should be redundant but, sadly, it isn't) with first-hand experience in the region. And, more importantly, Jihad was largely written before 11 September 2001, before our national interest in religious extremism became colored by emotion and an agenda to support USA military efforts in the Middle East.
As argued by Rashid, the seeds of today's radical Islamic movement in Central Asia were planted by Stalin. The present borders of those republics -- Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan -- were drawn by that dictator explicitly to fragment ethnic allegiances, to try and force the local populations to become homogenized (but 2nd class) members of the Soviet empire. Collectivization caused further resentment, as did Bolshevik suppression of Islam. But all the latter accomplished was to push religious practice underground and give the people a rallying point to come together against the government.
When the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s, leaving former Communist Party members as presidents of the five republics, the equilibrium changed. The government was still unpopular and oppressive, and Islam was still officially to be suppressed, but the governments had lost their power to achieve their objectives. With the repeal of Soviet control came the withdrawal of Soviet forces and resources. Militant Islamic groups, suddenly free(r) to seek their own agendas, rose up to divide and topple the reigning, impotent regimes. Rashid works systematically through various movements in the region and their histories, but he pays special attention to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and its connection with the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Jihad by Ahmed Rashid is a valuable and important book for anyone that wants to understand how the rise of militant Islam is not a new phenomenon but a continuation -- an effect -- of the Cold War.
- Amazon Customer Review
• Problem For Central Asia
12 May, 2007
The book is tedious, but comprehensive and does explain a lot that has been said about the region. It offers confirmation of many statements about the region, usually those offered without reference. Recommended for anyone interested in "Fundalmentalist Islam" and/or the politics of the former Soviet Uniion.
- Amazon Customer Review
• Ramblings And Misinformation Like A Bush-buster Neolib
04 July, 2008
Sad. What this person tries to do is excuse his own country ( may be Pakistan OR India, hard to tell from his retoric)for all the ills that have been created in his own country by his own corrupt neighbors. His claim to fame is rubbing shoulders with Karzi and other yuks. Rather like Barrack saying Farakan is not a friend of mine. ( sure) anyway. don't sucker for the full hardback cost like I did--I wasdoing research--THAT he does provide good references on Paki and Afghstan socialism--wait for it to hit the dollar rack--soon
- Amazon Customer Review
• The Root Of Civilization's Problem.
13 May, 2007
This book is the most comprehensive source of information concerning Islam & Terrorism.
- Amazon Customer Review
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