Ahmed Rashid. Descent Into Chaos: The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia

Short video introducing Rashid

  

Assignments (Writing due unless otherwise notified):

1.   Due F, 4/9:  Introduction, xxxvii – lviii.

2.   Due M, 4/12, ch. 1.

3.   Due T, 4/13, read either ch. 2 or ch. 3 as assigned.

4.   Due Th, 4/15, ch. 5 (skip ch. 4).

5.   Due F, 4/16, ch. 7 (skip ch. 6).

6.   Due T, 4/20, ch. 9 (skip ch. 8).

7.   Due W, 4/21, chp. 10.

*** Th, 4/ 22, NMH Service Day, no class ***

8.   Due F, 4/23, read either ch. 11 or ch. 12 as assigned.

9.   Due M, 4/26, ch. 13  - Skim.   No writing due.  — see Arab-Israeli Conflict Guide.

10.  Due T, 4/27, read either ch. 14 or ch. 15 as assigned:   A-K, ch. 14;  the rest, ch. 15.  No writing due.   See Arab-Israeli Conflict Guide.

11.  Due Th, 4/29, read either ch. 17 or ch. 19 as assigned: A-K, ch. 17; the rest of you, ch. 19.  (skip chs. 16 and 18).   No writing is due. 

12.  Due F, 4/30 – Write a final prescriptive response:  what should be done about Afghanistan and Pakistan?  Include direct references (page numbers) to the text. 

Other Resources:

 

At the IMEB –

-  Afghanistan

-  Pakistan

-  Af-Pak War

- NY Times “At War” Blog

 

At the HMEDB –

- Afghanistan

- Pakistan

- Taliban

- Al-Qaeda

- Islamic Revivalism

 

See Also:  

Sheri Berman’s article in Foreign Affairs (March/April, 2010) on state building in Afghanistan

David Miliband, “How to End the War in Afghanistan,” New York Review of Books (online), April 29, 2010