Barnett R. Rubin
One of our foremost authorities on modern Afghanistan, Barnett R. Rubin has dedicated much of his career to the study of this remote mountain country. He served as a special advisor to the late Ambassador Richard Holbrooke during his final mission to the region and still serves the Obama
administration under Holbrooke's successor, Ambassador Marc Grossman.
Now Rubin distills his unmatched knowledge of Afghanistan in this invaluable book. He shows how the Taliban arose in resistance to warlords some of whom who were raping and plundering with impunity in the vacuum of
authority left by the collapse of the Afghan state after the Soviet withdrawal. The Taliban built on a centuries-old tradition of local leadership by students and teachers at independent, rural madrasas - networks that had been marginalized by the state-building royal regime that was itself
destroyed by the Soviets and radicalized by the resistance to the invasion. He examines the arrival of Arab Islamists, the missed opportunities after the American-led intervention, the role of Pakistan, and the challenges of reconstruction.
Rubin provides first-hand accounts of the
bargaining at both the Bonn Talks of 2001 and the Afghan Constitutional Loya Jirga of 2003-2004, in both of which he participated as a UN advisor. Throughout, he discusses the significance of ethnic rivalries, the drug trade, human rights, state-building, US strategic choices, and international
organizations, analyzing the missteps in these areas taken by the international community since 2001. The book covers events till the start of the Obama administration, and the final chapters provide an inside look at some of the thinking that is shaping today's policy debates inside the
administration.
Authoritative, nuanced, and sweeping in scope, Afghanistan in the Post-Cold War Era provides deep insight into the greatest foreign policy challenge facing America today.
Part 1: Before 9/11
Introduction: "Helping Afghanistan" 1998
"Afghanistan under the Taliban" 1999
"Afghanistan: The Last Cold-War Conflict, the First Post-Cold War Conflict" 2000
"Afghanistan: The Forgotten Crisis" 1996
"The Political Economy of War and Peace in
Afghanistan" 2000
"Women and Pipelines: Afghanistan's Proxy Wars" 1997
"Arab Islamists in Afghanistan" 1997
"Afghanistan: Reconstruction and Peacebuilding in a Regional Framework," With Ashraf Ghani, William Maley, Ahmed Rashid, and Olivier Roy, 2001
Part 2: Reconstructing
Afghanistan?
Introduction: "Afghans Can Be Our Allies," New York Times, September 22, 2001
"A Blueprint for Afghanistan" 2002
"Peace Building, State Building: Constructing Sovereignty for Security" 2005
"The Politics of Security in State-Building"
"The Politics of
Center-Periphery Relations in Afghanistan" With Helena Malikyar 2003
"Transitional Justice and Human Rights in Afghanistan" 2003
"The Political Context of Public Administration in Afghanistan" 2007
"Crafting a Constitution for Afghanistan" 2004
"Regional Issues in the Reconstruction
of Afghanistan" With Andrea Armstrong 2003
"From Bonn to London: Governance Challenges and the Future of Statebuilding in Afghanistan" With Humayun Hamidzada, 2007
Part 3: Contesting Afghanistan
Introduction: "The Death of an Afghan Optimist" 2006
"Afghanistan's Uncertain
Transition from Turmoil to Normalcy" 2006
"Saving Afghanistan" 2007
"Pashtun and Taliban in Two States"
"U.S. and Iran in Afghanistan" With Sara Batmanglich
"Counter-Narcotics to Stabilize Afghanistan: The False Promise of Crop Eradication" With Jake Sherman 2008
"Afghan
Dilemmas: Defining Commitment" 2008
"The Transformation of the State in Afghanistan" 2008
"From Great Game to Grand Bargain: Ending Chaos in Afghanistan and Pakistan" With Ahmed Rashid 2008
Conclusion: "A Tribe Apart" 2009
Appendix: "Afghanistan 2005 and Beyond: Prospects for
Improved Stability" 2005
There are no Instructor/Student Resources available at this time.
Barnett R. Rubin is Director of Studies and Senior Fellow at the Center on International Cooperation at New York University. His books include Blood on the Doorstep: The Politics of Preventive Action, The Fragmentation of Afghanistan, and The Search for Peace in Afghanistan.
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