Afghanistan from the Cold War through the War on Terror

by Barnett R. Rubin

Book by Rubin, Barnett R.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Political Science, War

528 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2012

Reviews

[Spencer Willardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps a useful reference for an area studies person or want-to be expert on the region. After the book was halfway over I thought that everything had been said two or three times with just a bit of a different spin. The repackaged essays could have used a bit more narrative to fit them together. It's not a bad book, but it's kind of a dry read cover to cover.

[Mirwais Wakil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Admittedly, this book could benefit from better restructuring. However, if you are looking to generally inform yourself on the political history of Afghanistan as well as capture a number of detailed analysis on specific policy and security issues - then this book is a great source.

[Blake Grove · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is interesting. Very dry but that’s because it is written like a government report. Repetitive at times but I did learn a lot.

[Neil Bhatiya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don't go in expecting a comprehensive review of the history of Afghanistan since the '80s. Rather, this is more like a collection of edited essays, all works previously written by Rubin, that cover the past thirty years (up to 2008, before Rubin began consulting with the State Department). As a result, some of the material is repetitive and anachronistic. It's useful if you want to chart what the international community hoped to accomplish, as well as some early recognition of what was going wrong. We'll have to wait until Rubin is out of government to get a full accounting of where the Obama Administration took up the mantle.

[Riet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Geen makkelijk boek, maar wel erg informatief. De schrijver laat goed zien hoeveel fouten we met zijn allen in Afghanistan gemaakt hebben en nog maken. Hij ziet alleen een oplossing, als ook meteen de problemen met Iran, Pakistan en India worden meegenomen.
Het boek is een compilatie van artikelen, geschreven tussen het eind van de Koude oorlog en het begin van de Obama periode.

[Bethany Woodson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was hugely disappointing. The author is clearly an expert on the topics but needed a better editor. It was terribly organized and very repetitive. Also no maps were included? I know the geography but in a country where historical ethnic lines are extremely important you'd think there would be a map. This book could have been like 100 pages and gotten the same points across.