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This book offers a comprehensive analysis of the multifaceted dimensions of violent extremist groups in South Asia, attending especially to the relationships between the local and regional forces influencing their emergence and activities. In addition, research in the book shows how political, security-sensitive events and processes are framed, and the factors responsible for such framing. Similarly, it discusses prevalent discourses on anti-violent extremism policy and the on-the-ground militarized preventive/reactive interventions they guide, which are inspired by ideologies that increasingly reflect controversial understandings of the experiences of people within conditions of state fragility. In doing so, the book balances attention to local conditions that frame the rise and fall, or persistency, of incidences of violent extremism. The systems-based ecological framing of issues in the book is influenced by a concern for the broader questions of securitization, global governance, poverty, (under)development, and armed conflicts in South Asia.
A realistic assessment of the evolution of contemporary Pakistan, one that eschews lurid headlines for sober analysis.
The war in Afghanistan has become the most complex foreign policy problem the United States has ever faced, spreading into Pakistan and involving the conflicting interests of Russia, India, China and Iran. Written as a companion to Elizabeth Gould and Paul Fitzgerald's widely acclaimed book Invisible History: Afghanistan's Untold Story, Crossing Zero focuses on the nuances of the Obama administration's evolving military and political strategy, the people implementing it, and the long-term consequences for the United States and the region. "Fitzgerald and Gould have consistently raised the difficult questions and inconvenient truths about western engagement in Afghanistan. While many analysts...
It Takes More than a Network presents a structured investigation of the Iraqi insurgency's capacity for and conduct of organizational adaptation. In particular, it answers the question of why the Iraqi insurgency was seemingly so successful between 2003 and late 2006 and yet nearly totally collapsed by 2008. The book's main argument is that the Iraqi insurgency failed to achieve longer-term organizational goals because many of its organizational strengths were also its organizational weaknesses: these characteristics abetted and then corrupted the Iraqi insurgency's ability to adapt. The book further compares the organizational adaptation of the Iraqi insurgency with the organizational adaptation of the Afghan insurgency. This is done to refine the findings of the Iraq case and to present a more robust analysis of the adaptive cycles of two large and diverse covert networked insurgencies. The book finds that the Afghan insurgency, although still ongoing, has adapted more successfully than the Iraqi insurgency because it has been better able to leverage the strengths and counter the weaknesses of its chosen organizational form.
This book analyzes the emergence, rise, and decline of insurgency by the Pakistani Taliban in Pakistan’s North-Western region, also known as Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). It provides a detailed account of the rise and decline of the FATA insurgency and also examines aftereffects of the insurgency. Offering an in-depth analysis of how insurgency in the FATA began in 2004 after Pakistan entered its military forces into the tribal areas, the author illustrates that the insurgency erupted when state repression on masses is combined with a disruption of the previous modus vivendi centered on co-optation of local elites. In the following years, the insurgency became so powerful tha...
Without money, terrorists cannot function as organizations and cannot conduct attacks. Yet the questions remain, how vulnerable are terrorists to financial disruptions? Can governments put pressure on their finances in meaningful ways or are they too resilient and adaptive to be affected by state actions? These and other questions about terrorism financing are vigorously debated by scholars and policymakers, particularly since the attacks of September 11th 2001 . While there is a growing literature on policy issues, strategies, and countermeasures, states must first understand their enemies before developing strategies to defeat them. So, instead of focusing on the state response, this book ...
In the years after the collapse of the Soviet Union and its zone of influence, few insurgent groups had the resources necessary to confront regular armies. At the same time, state-sponsored financial support for insurgencies dramatically decreased. The pressing need to raise funds for war and the weakness of law enforcement in conflict zones create fertile conditions for organized crime; indeed, there is a mounting body of evidence correlating armed conflict and illicit economy, though the nature of this link and its impact on regional politics has not been well understood. Conflict, Crime, and the State in Postcommunist Eurasia explores the relationship between ideologically motivated insur...
The disintegration of Soviet Union in 1991, led to five new countries gaining independence in Central Asia. The Muslims, a predominant majority in the region, had faced religious suppression under the rule of the communist. Thus, began an era where Islam was practiced with larger freedom. However, the governance of most of these states was with the autocratic leaders who had grown under the influence of communism. Therefore, it was but natural for them to soon impose religious restrictions. This close tussle in almost all these newly raised states, led to emergence of some radical groups. Over the years, the influence of such groups has spread to the extent of posing a threat to the stabilit...
Essays by experts exploring the intersection of geography, religion, foreign policy, and terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan.