Ahmed Rashid

Ahmed Rashid (b. 1948 in Rawalpindi) is a Pakistani journalist and best-selling author. Rashid attended Malvern College, England, Government College Lahore, and Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. He serves as the Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia correspondent for the "Far Eastern Economic Review" and the "Daily Telegraph". He also writes for the "Wall Street Journal", "The Nation", and academic journals. He appears regularly on international TV and radio networks such as CNN and BBC World.

Rashid's 2000 book, "", was a "New York Times" bestseller for five weeks, translated into 22 languages, and has sold 1.5 million copies since the September 11, 2001 attacks. [http://www.ahmedrashid.com/ Ahmed Rashid] Ahmed Rashid] The book was used extensively by American analysts in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

His latest book, "Descent into Chaos: The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia" [http://www.amazon.com/Descent-into-Chaos-Building-Afghanistan/dp/0670019704/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219311030&sr=8-1] , is a scathing critique of both America and Europe's failure to invest in rebuilding Afghanistan and Pakistan's role in allowing Taliban and Al-Qaeda elements to regroup in Pakistan.

His commentary also appears in the Washington Post's PostGlobal segment.

Rashid lives in Lahore, Pakistan with his wife and two children.

Criticism

In his 2003 book "Jihad - the Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia", Rashid argues that there are "strong links and cooperation between the rank and file" of Hizb ut-Tahrir and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan especially when they are from the same village or town. However, according to Jean-François Mayer of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs; the insinuation ‘that the party (Hizb ut-Tahrir) will turn violent and has links with the IMU’ is inaccurate: the comments attributed to a member ‘contradicted the party’s ideas’. Representatives of Hizb ut-Tahrir report that they have repeatedly attempted to contact Ahmed Rashid in order to make their views known, but say they have not succeeded. They are even considering writing a rebuttal of his book [http://hei.unige.ch/psio/fichiers/Meyer%20Al%20Qaida.pdf Hizb ut-Tahrir – The Next Al-Qaida, Really ?] PSIO]

Works

*"The Resurgence of Central Asia: Islam or Nationalism?", St. Martin's Press (May 1994), ISBN 1-85649-131-5.
*"", Yale University Press (March 2000) ISBN 0-300-08340-8.
*"Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia", Yale University Press (January 25, 2002) ISBN 0-300-09345-4. (Hyderabad: Orient Longman, 2002)
*" [http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/010207.shtml Al Qaeda in 2007: Striving to regain the initiative] ", published on 29 December 2006
*"Descent Into Chaos", Viking, 2008, ISBN 9780670019700

References

ee also

*New Great Game
*The Oil Factor

External links

* [http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/america/2007/08/ahmed_rashid_bush_pakistan.html Ahmed Rashid Says Bush Didn't Listen on How the World Sees America]
* [http://www.ahmedrashid.com/ Ahmed Rashid's Official website]
* [http://blog.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/ahmed_rashid/ PostGlobal Panelist]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3421259.stm "Afghanistan - a rocky year ahead," BBC, January 29, 2004.] (BBC)
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4195933.stm "Explosive Mix in Pakistan's gas province," BBC, 4 February, 2005.]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4310863.stm "Cold exposes Afghanistan's broken promises," BBC, 17 March, 2005.]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4104655.stm "Musharraf's Power Play," BBC, 22 December 2004.]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3995007.stm "India and Pakistan's road to detente," BBC, 11 November, 2004.]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3850773.stm "Pakistan's Growing Problems," BBC, 1 July, 2004.]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3545985.stm "Musharraf's Bin Laden headache," BBC, 17 March, 2004.]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3676208.stm "Three elections and the Muslim World," BBC, 27 September, 2004.]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3650691.stm "Where is Musharraf's Pakistan heading?" BBC, 29 April, 2004.]
* [http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,400117,00.html "This Is not an Issue of Free Speech" Der Spiegel, 10 February, 2006.] (Der Spiegel)