Recommended by Mark T. Clark:

Antonio Giustozzi's book traces the emergence of the neo-Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan after the defeat of the Taliban in late 2001. He notes how the Taliban have become more flexible in interpreting Sharia, using innovative guerrilla and terrorist strategies as well as technology in their quest for power. He shows that neo-Taliban successes have stemmed from three things. First, the Taliban have exploited the political weaknesses of Afghanistan’s new government, especially between central and local arms. Second, they have adopted new strategies and tactics in fighting the Afghan army, its militias and its “foreign” supporters. And third, the insurgents have confronted an inconsistent and ineffective counter-insurgency strategy against them. The work is worth reading, if only to understand some of the recent “successes” the insurgency has scored and anticipate some counters we may soon employ.

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Product Description

Since the Allied invasion of Afghanistan in 2002, the Bush administration has celebrated the imminent demise of the Taliban, with claims of a "moral and psychological defeat" playing a prominent role in the presidential elections of 2004. Some commentators suggested that "reconstruction and development" had won over the Afghan population, despite widespread criticism of the meager distribution of aid and failed attempts at "nation building," not to mention the infamous corruption of Kabul's power-hoarding elites.

In March 2006, both Afghan and American officials continued to assert that "the Taliban are no longer able to fight large battles." Unfortunately that theory would soon collapse beneath the weight of a series of particularly ferocious clashes, causing the mood in the American media to turn from one of optimism to one of defeatism and impending catastrophe. Suddenly faced with a very sophisticated and creative form of guerilla warfare, the West found itself at a loss to fight an insurgency that bore little resemblance to its former enemy.

In the first book ever to be published on the neo-Taliban, Antonio Giustozzi provocatively argues that the appearance of the neo-Taliban should in no way have been a surprise. Beginning in 2003, a growing body of evidence began to surface that cast doubt on the official interpretation of the conflict. With the West cutting corners to maintain peace within the country, which included tolerating Afghanistan's burgeoning opium trade, the Taliban was able to regroup and grow in strength, weapons, and recruits. Giustozzi's book poses a bold challenge to contemporary accounts of the invasion and its aftermath and is an important investigation into the rise and dangerous future of the neo-Taliban.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #694779 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11-16
• Released on: 2007-11-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 224 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780231700092
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review

"This detailed study... chronicles the rise of what Giustozzi labels 'the neo-Taliban'. Separate chapters treat how and why the neo-Taliban were recruited, their organization, their tactics and strategy, and the counterinsurgency efforts of the Afghan government and its outside supporters. With copious cross-referencing, he works in such subjects as
the continued involvement of Pakistan, the drug trade, neo-Taliban relations with Al Qaeda, and the rural-versus-urban dimension of this struggle. There are also several perceptive comparisons with insurgencies elsewhere in the world. [Giustozzi] concludes that reining in the neo-Taliban by arms or diplomacy will be more difficult now than reining in the original was five years ago. He also sees the group's strategy as having shifted in its new form from national resistance to global jihad.'" -- Foreign Affairs

"A revelatory new book." -- Asia Times

"An important book as it shows the evolution of the movement [of the Taliban] into a more lethal entity... Current, relevant, and thought-provoking." -- Lester W. Grau, Journal of Military History

"The definitive volume on the resurgent Taliban for policymakers, diplomats, and military leaders... a must-read." -- Kevin D. Stringer, Military Review

"An excellent recent publication." -- International Socialist Review

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Review

"This book fills the gap in the current scholarship on the neo-Taliban. It benefits from the author's entertainment of deep thinking and cross-analyses of facts and figures. While ambitious, by strictly confining himself to developments occurring between 2002 and 2007, Antonio Giustiozzi has succeeded in providing a valid framework for exploration of the nature of the political in Afghanistan in general and the resurgent Taliban in particular." -- Amalendu Misra, author of Afghanistan: The Labyrinth of Violence

About the Author

Antonio Giustozzi has spent more than a decade visiting, researching, and writing on Afghanistan. He is based at the Crisis States Research Centre at the London School of Economics, where he focuses on the political aspects of insurgency and warlordism. His most recent book is War, Politics and Society in Afghanistan, 1978-92.

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Customer Reviews

Fills an important gap, imperfectly
Ahmed Rashid's "Taliban" is the definitive book on the Taliban pre-2001, and there is no equally well-researched and well-written account of their from power and the growing insurgency. Giustozzi's book is certainly well-researched, and very knowledgeable on many issues, but is by no means the book many have been waiting for. It's terribly written, and lacks any readability. Surprisingly, Giustozzi is light on many critical facets of the Taliban insurgency: links to the narcotics trade, operational catalysts such as the failure to disrupt the 2004 Afghan presidential election, the role of iconic individuals such as Mullah Dadullah, and an accurate account of UK and Canadian operations in 2006. Hopefully Ahmed Rashid will update his book soon. For now, Giustozzi's account is the best there is.

Very Timely Publication - Giustozzi tells it like it is
Dr. Giustozzi brings a refreshing and honest take on the situation in Afghanistan. He dispels the Western propaganda of success and reconstruction and instead offers the reader an insight into the resurgence of the Taliban and the threats that it poses.