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

Includes bibliographical references (pages 457-461) 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.

Rashid examines the region and the corridors of power in Washington and Europe to see how the promised nation building in these countries has progressed. His conclusions are devastating: an unstable and nuclear-armed Pakistan, a renewed al Qaeda profiting from a booming opium trade, and a Taliban resurgence and reconquest. While Iraq continues to attract most of American media and military might, Rashid argues that Pakistan and Afghanistan are where the conflict will finally be played out and that these failing states pose a graver threat to global security than the Middle East.--From publisher description.