The Pashtun Question: The Unresolved Key to the Future of Pakistan and Afghanistan - Couverture rigide

Siddique, Abubakar

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 1849042926 ISBN 13 : 9781849042925

Editeur : C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd, 2014

Synopsis

Most contemporary journalistic and scholarly accounts of the instability gripping Afghanistan and Pakistan have argued that violent Islamic extremism, including support for the Taliban and related groups, is either rooted in Pashtun history and culture, or finds willing hosts among their communities on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Abubakar Siddique sets out to demonstrate that the failure, or even unwillingness, of both Afghanistan and Pakistan to absorb the Pashtuns into their state structures and to incorporate them into the economic and political fabric is central to these dynamics, and a critical failure of nation- and state-building in both states. In his book he argues that religious extremism is the product of these critical failures and that responsibility for the situation lies to some degree with the elites of both countries. Partly an eye-witness account and partly meticulously researched scholarship, The Pashtun Question describes a people whose destiny will shape the future of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

A propos du livre

Revue de presse

'Westerners misunderstand Pashtun society in part because they are often fixated on romantic ideas about Pashtunwali the tribal code that is said to prize honour, revenge and hospitality above all other virtues. Understandably irritated that British imperialists and today's foreign correspondents have reduced his culture to an Orientalist fantasy, Siddique points out that, far from relishing the chance to murder one another, most Pashtuns, just like everyone else, would be very happy to live in peace.' --London Review of Books

'The Pashtun Question informs readers of the complex political landscape of the Pashtun regions and explores the various hues of political players in an objective and insightful manner. ... Siddique provides an insider's perspective to a body of literature otherwise dominated by a handful of British colonial accounts.' --Business Standard

'Well-written and comprehensive.' --Foreign Policy

Biographie de l'auteur

Abubakar Siddique is a journalist with Radio Free Europe in Prague, specialising in coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan. He has spent the past fifteen years researching and writing about security, political, humanitarian and cultural issues in Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Pashtun heartland where he was born. In addition to his reporting, Siddique has spoken at Western thinktanks and has contributed articles, chapters and research papers to a range of publications.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd
• Date d'édition: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1849042926
• ISBN 13: 9781849042925
• Reliure: Relié
• Langue: anglais
• Nombre de pages: 320