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Faith, Unity, Discipline: The ISI of Pakistan
Established in the wake of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947-8 by British officer Major General Robert Cawthorne, then Deputy Chief of Staff in the Pakistan Army, Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for years remained an under-developed and obscure agency. In 1979, the organisation's growing importance was felt during the Soviet war in Afghanistan , as it worked hand in glove with the CIA to support the mujahideen resistance, but its activities received little coverage in news media.
Since that time, the ISI has projected its influence across the region in 1988 its involvement in Indian Kashmir came under increasing scrutiny, and by 1995 its mentoring of what became the Afghan Taliban was well attested. But it was the organisation's alleged links with Al Qaeda and the discovery of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, at the heart of Pakistan's military zone, that really threw it under the spotlight. These controversies and many more have dogged the ISI, including its role in Pakistan's testing of a nuclear weapon in 1998 and its links with A.Q. Khan.
Offering fresh insights into the ISI as a domestic and international actor based on intimate knowledge of its inner workings and key individuals, this startlingly original book uncovers the hitherto shady world of Pakistan's secret service.
Since that time, the ISI has projected its influence across the region in 1988 its involvement in Indian Kashmir came under increasing scrutiny, and by 1995 its mentoring of what became the Afghan Taliban was well attested. But it was the organisation's alleged links with Al Qaeda and the discovery of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, at the heart of Pakistan's military zone, that really threw it under the spotlight. These controversies and many more have dogged the ISI, including its role in Pakistan's testing of a nuclear weapon in 1998 and its links with A.Q. Khan.
Offering fresh insights into the ISI as a domestic and international actor based on intimate knowledge of its inner workings and key individuals, this startlingly original book uncovers the hitherto shady world of Pakistan's secret service.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published November 15, 2016
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May 19, 2017
Writing a book about a spy agency must be a very tough task. This book provides some insight into the history of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency, but despite the author’s access to a number of former ISI officers, does not in the end greatly expand beyond other political and military histories of Pakistan (in which the ISI is often a recurring feature).
The book’s structure is somewhat disjointed, switching at points between a chronological tour through the ISI’s leadership and their interactions with military and civilian leaders, and a look at the agency’s role in neighboring theaters of conflict. Of the latter parts, ISI support for separatist movements in Indian Punjab and northeast India were the most interesting, but perhaps only because I haven’t read much on those conflicts previously; there does not seem to be a lot here on the ISI’s role in Afghanistan or Kashmir that hasn’t been covered in more depth in other sources. The analysis of the agency’s domestic role is a little more thorough, and perhaps sheds some additional light on the tenures and transitions between civilian and military government; there are some good RUMINT snippets throughout, though I would be cautious about sole-sourcing them to this book, as it contains some clear editing errors. The author also shares two extended statements from the agency in the appendix on Balochistan and Indian intervention in Pakistan, and snippets in the text throughout rebutting some of his analysis.
Some org charts aside, there’s very little insight into the structure and culture of the organization below the top leadership level, although again for a book about a spy agency I guess that can’t be much of a surprise. The author points to the transformative effect the opium and Afghan war boom had on the agency and its officers (some of whom subsequently became very rich), and makes some reference to the role of ex-officers like Hamid Gul who (depending on your assessment) may or may not be providing deniable services for the ISI after leaving the service. Ultimately, though, the author’s assessment is that there is no “ISI within the ISI” and that it in turn follows the direction of the military (regardless of where it falls in the official chain of command).
The splashiest part of the book is the author’s assessment that ISI and senior Pakistani military officials had foreknowledge of 9/11 and would have had to know about the presence of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad prior to the 2011 U.S. strike there. (This part, weirdly, is not granted an ISI rebuttal in text.) I remain skeptical of the account here if for no other reason than I do not believe US-Pakistan relations could have survived if there was actual evidence beyond Leon Panetta’s gut to back it up. There is not much to back up the “they had to know he was there” charge, beyond references to allegations by Carlotta Gall of the existence of a special cell dedicated to hiding Bin Laden, which I’ve not seen any other source definitively confirm; the foreknowledge charge is sourced to Indian accounts that maintain that Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, a British Pakistani with links to a variety of terrorist groups including Al Qaeda and who was jailed for the 2002 murder of Daniel Pearl, also maintained contacts with the ISI and some corps commanders. Hiding this fact is purported to be a rationale for the subsequent removal of DG ISI Mahmud Ahmed and shift of support by Pakistan away from the Taliban at U.S. insistence, which does not really pass the Occam’s Razor test for me.
The only other book-length study on the ISI that I’m aware of is some $130+ monstrosity from Routledge, so this one is probably worth checking out as a partial guide to a difficult subject, but I would maintain caution when reading.
The book’s structure is somewhat disjointed, switching at points between a chronological tour through the ISI’s leadership and their interactions with military and civilian leaders, and a look at the agency’s role in neighboring theaters of conflict. Of the latter parts, ISI support for separatist movements in Indian Punjab and northeast India were the most interesting, but perhaps only because I haven’t read much on those conflicts previously; there does not seem to be a lot here on the ISI’s role in Afghanistan or Kashmir that hasn’t been covered in more depth in other sources. The analysis of the agency’s domestic role is a little more thorough, and perhaps sheds some additional light on the tenures and transitions between civilian and military government; there are some good RUMINT snippets throughout, though I would be cautious about sole-sourcing them to this book, as it contains some clear editing errors. The author also shares two extended statements from the agency in the appendix on Balochistan and Indian intervention in Pakistan, and snippets in the text throughout rebutting some of his analysis.
Some org charts aside, there’s very little insight into the structure and culture of the organization below the top leadership level, although again for a book about a spy agency I guess that can’t be much of a surprise. The author points to the transformative effect the opium and Afghan war boom had on the agency and its officers (some of whom subsequently became very rich), and makes some reference to the role of ex-officers like Hamid Gul who (depending on your assessment) may or may not be providing deniable services for the ISI after leaving the service. Ultimately, though, the author’s assessment is that there is no “ISI within the ISI” and that it in turn follows the direction of the military (regardless of where it falls in the official chain of command).
The splashiest part of the book is the author’s assessment that ISI and senior Pakistani military officials had foreknowledge of 9/11 and would have had to know about the presence of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad prior to the 2011 U.S. strike there. (This part, weirdly, is not granted an ISI rebuttal in text.) I remain skeptical of the account here if for no other reason than I do not believe US-Pakistan relations could have survived if there was actual evidence beyond Leon Panetta’s gut to back it up. There is not much to back up the “they had to know he was there” charge, beyond references to allegations by Carlotta Gall of the existence of a special cell dedicated to hiding Bin Laden, which I’ve not seen any other source definitively confirm; the foreknowledge charge is sourced to Indian accounts that maintain that Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, a British Pakistani with links to a variety of terrorist groups including Al Qaeda and who was jailed for the 2002 murder of Daniel Pearl, also maintained contacts with the ISI and some corps commanders. Hiding this fact is purported to be a rationale for the subsequent removal of DG ISI Mahmud Ahmed and shift of support by Pakistan away from the Taliban at U.S. insistence, which does not really pass the Occam’s Razor test for me.
The only other book-length study on the ISI that I’m aware of is some $130+ monstrosity from Routledge, so this one is probably worth checking out as a partial guide to a difficult subject, but I would maintain caution when reading.
December 29, 2024
১৯৪৮ সালে আইএসআই প্রতিষ্ঠিত হয় এবং আইএসআই- কে সাধারণত কাশ্মীরকেন্দ্রিক প্রথম ভারত-পাকিস্তান যুদ্ধের ফলাফল হিসেবে বিবেচনা করা হয়। তখন পাকিস্তানি ভরফে প্রচণ্ড আকারের Reconnaissance ঘাটতি ছিল। যাই হোক, যুদ্ধের সময় দেখা যায় যে উভয়পক্ষই ভুল-ভাল ইনফরমেশন জোগাড় করছিল। যে-কোনো ক্ষেত্রে ১৯৪৮ সালের শেষের দিকে কাশ্মীরের ফ্রন্ট লাইন ভালোভাবেই পরিচালিত হলো, যা আজ LoC (Line of Control) নামে পরিচিত যেখানে উভয় দেশের সেনাবাহিনীর ইউনিটগুলো বহু বছর ধরে শত্রুতাপূর্ণ মনোভাব নিয়ে একে অপরের মুখোমুখি দাঁড়িয়ে আছে।
১৯৪৭-১৯৪৮ যুদ্ধে পাকিস্তানের ট্রপস আহামরিভাবে পরাজিত হয়নি যেভাবে আজ বিভিন্ন পত্র-পত্রিকায় প্রকাশিত হয়। LoC-র পাকিস্তানি তরফে হলো আজাদ কাশ্মীর; আর পাকিস্তান বালতিস্তান ও গিলগিতও নিয়ন্ত্রণ করে, যা Northern Areas নামে পরিচিত, যেখানে ১৯৪৭ সালের ৩ নভেম্বর Gilgit Scouts পাকিস্তানের জাতীয় পতাকা উত্তোলন করেছিল। এভাবেই পাকিস্তান সাবেক নৃগোষ্ঠীর এক-তৃতীয়াংশ হাসিল করেছিল যা ছিল সামরিক সফলতার সুস্পষ্ট ইঙ্গিত। পরবর্তী উন্নয়ন আহামরি কোনো পরিবর্তন নিয়ে আসেনি। জম্মু-কাশ্মীরও একসময় কোনো এক নৃপতির অধীনে ছিল। আজ পাকিস্তানের হাতে আছে ৩২% যা আজাদ কাশ্মীর নামে পরিচিত, ভারতের হাতে আছে ৪৮% যা জম্মু-কাশ্মীর নামে পরিচিত আর চীনের হাতে আছে ২০% যা আকসাই চিন নামে পরিচিত।
তবে আইএসআই সৃষ্টির গতানুগতিক সংস্করণটিকে পুনরায় মূল্যায়ন করা প্রয়োজন। মিলিটারি ইন্টেলিজেন্সের উপলব্ধিকৃত ব্যর্থতার ফলাফলস্বরূপ কি আইএসআই সৃষ্টি করা হয়েছিল? ইতিহাসবিদরা গ্রেট ব্রিটেন ও রাশিয়ার মধ্যকার ঔপনিবেশিক যুগের "Great Game"-র দিকেও ইশারা প্রদান করে যা দ্বিতীয় বিশ্বযুদ্ধের পরও কিছু মাত্রায় চলমান ছিল। তখন সাবেক ঔপনিবেশিক শক্তিগুলো মধ্য, দক্ষিণ ও পশ্চিম এশিয়ার ব্যাপারে ইন্টেলিজেন্স।
ইনফরমেশন সংগ্রহ করার জন্য ক্ষুধার্ত বাঘের মতো হয়ে গিয়েছিল। তবে আইএসআই শুধুমাত্র কাশ্মির-কেন্দ্রিক ১৯৪৭-১৯৪৮ যুদ্ধের পরিণতির ফলে সৃষ্টি হয়নি বরং ঔপনিবেশিক পরবর্তী অঞ্চলে ব্রিটিশ রাজনৈতিক স্বার্থের ফল হিসেবে আইএসআই সৃষ্টি করা হয়। ব্রিটিশ আমলের হোম সেক্রেটারি ও পরবর্তীকালে সিন্ধুর গভর্নর হওয়া স্যার রবার্ট ফ্রান্সিস মুডির একটা চিঠি থেকে বিষয়টি জানা যায়।
পাকিস্তানের সামরিক ইতিহাসবিদরা আংশিকভাবে আইএসআইয়ের নীলনকশার প্রণয়নকারী হিসেবে ব্রিটিশ সিক্রেট ইন্টেলিজেন্স সার্ভিস M16-র নাম নেওয়াকে প্রাধান্য দিয়ে থাকেন কারণ প্রথম প্রশিক্ষণ ও সরঞ্জামাদির সহযোগিতা M16 ও সিআইএ-র কাছ থেকে এসেছিল।
১৯৪৭-১৯৪৮ যুদ্ধে পাকিস্তানের ট্রপস আহামরিভাবে পরাজিত হয়নি যেভাবে আজ বিভিন্ন পত্র-পত্রিকায় প্রকাশিত হয়। LoC-র পাকিস্তানি তরফে হলো আজাদ কাশ্মীর; আর পাকিস্তান বালতিস্তান ও গিলগিতও নিয়ন্ত্রণ করে, যা Northern Areas নামে পরিচিত, যেখানে ১৯৪৭ সালের ৩ নভেম্বর Gilgit Scouts পাকিস্তানের জাতীয় পতাকা উত্তোলন করেছিল। এভাবেই পাকিস্তান সাবেক নৃগোষ্ঠীর এক-তৃতীয়াংশ হাসিল করেছিল যা ছিল সামরিক সফলতার সুস্পষ্ট ইঙ্গিত। পরবর্তী উন্নয়ন আহামরি কোনো পরিবর্তন নিয়ে আসেনি। জম্মু-কাশ্মীরও একসময় কোনো এক নৃপতির অধীনে ছিল। আজ পাকিস্তানের হাতে আছে ৩২% যা আজাদ কাশ্মীর নামে পরিচিত, ভারতের হাতে আছে ৪৮% যা জম্মু-কাশ্মীর নামে পরিচিত আর চীনের হাতে আছে ২০% যা আকসাই চিন নামে পরিচিত।
তবে আইএসআই সৃষ্টির গতানুগতিক সংস্করণটিকে পুনরায় মূল্যায়ন করা প্রয়োজন। মিলিটারি ইন্টেলিজেন্সের উপলব্ধিকৃত ব্যর্থতার ফলাফলস্বরূপ কি আইএসআই সৃষ্টি করা হয়েছিল? ইতিহাসবিদরা গ্রেট ব্রিটেন ও রাশিয়ার মধ্যকার ঔপনিবেশিক যুগের "Great Game"-র দিকেও ইশারা প্রদান করে যা দ্বিতীয় বিশ্বযুদ্ধের পরও কিছু মাত্রায় চলমান ছিল। তখন সাবেক ঔপনিবেশিক শক্তিগুলো মধ্য, দক্ষিণ ও পশ্চিম এশিয়ার ব্যাপারে ইন্টেলিজেন্স।
ইনফরমেশন সংগ্রহ করার জন্য ক্ষুধার্ত বাঘের মতো হয়ে গিয়েছিল। তবে আইএসআই শুধুমাত্র কাশ্মির-কেন্দ্রিক ১৯৪৭-১৯৪৮ যুদ্ধের পরিণতির ফলে সৃষ্টি হয়নি বরং ঔপনিবেশিক পরবর্তী অঞ্চলে ব্রিটিশ রাজনৈতিক স্বার্থের ফল হিসেবে আইএসআই সৃষ্টি করা হয়। ব্রিটিশ আমলের হোম সেক্রেটারি ও পরবর্তীকালে সিন্ধুর গভর্নর হওয়া স্যার রবার্ট ফ্রান্সিস মুডির একটা চিঠি থেকে বিষয়টি জানা যায়।
পাকিস্তানের সামরিক ইতিহাসবিদরা আংশিকভাবে আইএসআইয়ের নীলনকশার প্রণয়নকারী হিসেবে ব্রিটিশ সিক্রেট ইন্টেলিজেন্স সার্ভিস M16-র নাম নেওয়াকে প্রাধান্য দিয়ে থাকেন কারণ প্রথম প্রশিক্ষণ ও সরঞ্জামাদির সহযোগিতা M16 ও সিআইএ-র কাছ থেকে এসেছিল।
March 14, 2019
Superb, must say. Took lot much consideration before swallowing the inside story what the West say about the shadowy intelligence organisation. Its definitely a must read...
March 26, 2018
An insightful reading into the evolution of ISI, the premier intelligence agency of Pakistan, from a virtually unknown and understaffed intelligence entity to one of the best-known agencies in the modern world.
Also, the multifaceted aspects of the agency, different domestic and international events related and binary "behind-the-mirror" school of thoughts regarding the events and developments.
The book also presents misconceptions and operational realities and plausible answers to questions probed by world due to covert obfuscating chain of events allegedly linked to the ISI.
It also sheds light on the relation of ISI with CIA, R&AW, NDS, KGB etc; and the terror elements and terrorist organizations. It also explains the influence and interference of ISI in Pakistani politics and affairs, and in the region.
I loved the narratives from around the world regarding the ISI, including the well-balanced, plausible, non-radical and cautious approach of B. Raman.
I also loved and smiled over careful official answers in writing given by the ISI to the author.
The book is a must to read.
Recommended reading: "Profiles of Intelligence" (Brigadier A. I. Tirmazi)
Regards,
Dr Ahsen Tahiri
July 12, 2019
As a Pakistani observing and studying the political scenarios of Pakistan at least from 2006 . It seems author is trying hard to act neutral but in reality a bit biased... portraying isi as the bad egg of this region which seems unfair... author should at least have given a slight shade of the role of the big boys of the region which led isi to react in such... author is trying to tell one sided story
July 13, 2017
Interesting, but far too detailed for a casual read. This exhaustive chronological of the ISI's history is of great utility to researchers. My only complaint is that it had more data, less information.
November 8, 2016
Very informative... read detailed thoughts here:
https://in.news.yahoo.com/isi-pakista...
https://in.news.yahoo.com/isi-pakista...
May 10, 2017
I wish Goodreads had a rating system of '.5s' intead of '1s,' so that I could rate the book 2.5. Something I have felt a need for previously as well.
As far as the book is concerned, I praise the author for picking up 'Inter-services Intelligence,' as his topic, since there aren't many "neutral," or "third party" comprehensive efforts available on this particular subject. Most of the literature available is either authored by Indian analysts or the local ones, which almost always casts doubts on the accuracy of the material. So a good step indeed.
As for the content of the book, I felt extremely disappointed as a reader. There was hardly anything new in the book except for countable paragraphs and few charts. Apart from that, everything was what a keen observer of the topic would have already read in one article/book or another.
Judging it from the title, I expected it to be a comprehensive book in terms of shedding some light on the practical functionality of the agency in normal times. Perhaps some accounts of its lesser known missions. Its activities in Pakistan's tribal areas and beyond. Its collaborations with other Intelligence agencies of the world (apart from its well know history with CIA). A little light on its technical, HUMINT capabilities. Its way of operating within and outside Pakistan, its attributes and all.
Instead, the presented work was merely the political history of agency. The tone of the book sounded largely accusatory in nature, although there were bits genuinely interesting, but majorly it was extremely shallow in its nerrative.
To quote an example, the author, in one of the chapters, talks about the personnel, structure and budget of agency. In the section regarding personnel, an extremely shallow account is present in regards to the selection process of the recruits, separately for the military and civilian personnels, no mention at all of training modules, the funtioning of the the agency's academy, no plausible mention at all of civilian - military composition of the service. In short, an extremely disappointing handling of what could have been an excellent and groundbreaking study.
In addition there were a lot of editorial glitches, which were partially understandable because of the book's German-English translation, but were at times really irritating.
In conclusion, although it was one of the better efforts in this particular study, but heavily messed up in its chance of coming up with something groundbreaking. For me, it was nothing more than a very structured, yet a very hasty compilation of already available material on the topic. At least that's how it felt to me.
As far as the book is concerned, I praise the author for picking up 'Inter-services Intelligence,' as his topic, since there aren't many "neutral," or "third party" comprehensive efforts available on this particular subject. Most of the literature available is either authored by Indian analysts or the local ones, which almost always casts doubts on the accuracy of the material. So a good step indeed.
As for the content of the book, I felt extremely disappointed as a reader. There was hardly anything new in the book except for countable paragraphs and few charts. Apart from that, everything was what a keen observer of the topic would have already read in one article/book or another.
Judging it from the title, I expected it to be a comprehensive book in terms of shedding some light on the practical functionality of the agency in normal times. Perhaps some accounts of its lesser known missions. Its activities in Pakistan's tribal areas and beyond. Its collaborations with other Intelligence agencies of the world (apart from its well know history with CIA). A little light on its technical, HUMINT capabilities. Its way of operating within and outside Pakistan, its attributes and all.
Instead, the presented work was merely the political history of agency. The tone of the book sounded largely accusatory in nature, although there were bits genuinely interesting, but majorly it was extremely shallow in its nerrative.
To quote an example, the author, in one of the chapters, talks about the personnel, structure and budget of agency. In the section regarding personnel, an extremely shallow account is present in regards to the selection process of the recruits, separately for the military and civilian personnels, no mention at all of training modules, the funtioning of the the agency's academy, no plausible mention at all of civilian - military composition of the service. In short, an extremely disappointing handling of what could have been an excellent and groundbreaking study.
In addition there were a lot of editorial glitches, which were partially understandable because of the book's German-English translation, but were at times really irritating.
In conclusion, although it was one of the better efforts in this particular study, but heavily messed up in its chance of coming up with something groundbreaking. For me, it was nothing more than a very structured, yet a very hasty compilation of already available material on the topic. At least that's how it felt to me.
January 31, 2019
Generally a good book with a good amount of information about ISI and it's role. However the author needs to study more relevant books on Indian incident of recent past instead of pinning every bad happening in the region in general and in India in particular on ISI.
January 2, 2018
Reads like a poorly written college research paper. No flow, jumbled, lacks coherence, makes a lot of unsupported statements. Reads as a bunch of paragraphs strung together rather than a book.
February 27, 2018
The Directorate of inter - services intelligence ( ISI ) : A State within a state
------------------------------------------------------------
* The Directorate for inter- services intelligence, more commonly known as ISI, was founded in the year 1948 by a British officer Walter Joseph cawthrone.
* In the initial years of it's creation, ISI somehow remained very mild and obscure but it gained it's prominence during the 1979 Afghan - jihad, and with the help of ' Uncle Sam ', The ISI helped and trained the afghan pashtun mujahedeens which later known by the name of " Taliban ", they organized various terrorist attacks in the Indian Punjab, Northeast India, supported and trained all the anti-social elements to bleed india because they realized that conventionally they will never win against India.
* When the Soviets left Afghanistan in 1989, ISI Became at that time a 'State within a state', they followed their own foreign policy, threatened the politicians of pakistan at will.
* Infact all the major terrorist oragnizations have their links with the ISI of pakistan, for example Al-Qaeda, taliban, hizb-e-islami, laskhar-e-taiba, jaish-e-mohammed and Haqqani network, they all received money and guidance from the ISI personnel.
* This book revealed many secrets of the ISI, about its history, the various covert operation it organized across the globe from India to Europe, the author himself lived in Pakistan for 13 long years, established various contacts within the ISI, interviewed the former heads of ISI, and presented to us in the form of this Book. Although this book is only for those who loves to read about Af-pak region, for normal Readers I will not recommend this book.
My ratings : ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ( 4/5 )
I hope you like the review, thanks for reading, Jai Hind.
Table of contents :-
---------------------------
* The first decade
* The era of first generals, 1958-1971
* Zulfikar ali bhutto, 1971-1977
* An interim balance sheet of thirty years, 1948-1977
* The ISI under zia-ul-haq, 1977-1988
* Turbulence at the end of the 1980s
* Domestic politics, 1988-1991
* The ISI and Nawaz Sharif, 1990-1993
* History repeats itself
* Foreign policy and the ISI
* Nawaz Sharif, second time around, 1997-1999
* Afghanistan in the 1990s
* Insurgency in Punjab
* The ISI in northeast india
* Structure- personnel- budget
* The ISI under pervez Musharraf
* The troubled valley : Kashmir
* Turbulent times, 2007-2010
* Reform attempt
* Clouds on the horizon
* Quote vadis, ISI ?
------------------------------------------------------------
* The Directorate for inter- services intelligence, more commonly known as ISI, was founded in the year 1948 by a British officer Walter Joseph cawthrone.
* In the initial years of it's creation, ISI somehow remained very mild and obscure but it gained it's prominence during the 1979 Afghan - jihad, and with the help of ' Uncle Sam ', The ISI helped and trained the afghan pashtun mujahedeens which later known by the name of " Taliban ", they organized various terrorist attacks in the Indian Punjab, Northeast India, supported and trained all the anti-social elements to bleed india because they realized that conventionally they will never win against India.
* When the Soviets left Afghanistan in 1989, ISI Became at that time a 'State within a state', they followed their own foreign policy, threatened the politicians of pakistan at will.
* Infact all the major terrorist oragnizations have their links with the ISI of pakistan, for example Al-Qaeda, taliban, hizb-e-islami, laskhar-e-taiba, jaish-e-mohammed and Haqqani network, they all received money and guidance from the ISI personnel.
* This book revealed many secrets of the ISI, about its history, the various covert operation it organized across the globe from India to Europe, the author himself lived in Pakistan for 13 long years, established various contacts within the ISI, interviewed the former heads of ISI, and presented to us in the form of this Book. Although this book is only for those who loves to read about Af-pak region, for normal Readers I will not recommend this book.
My ratings : ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ( 4/5 )
I hope you like the review, thanks for reading, Jai Hind.
Table of contents :-
---------------------------
* The first decade
* The era of first generals, 1958-1971
* Zulfikar ali bhutto, 1971-1977
* An interim balance sheet of thirty years, 1948-1977
* The ISI under zia-ul-haq, 1977-1988
* Turbulence at the end of the 1980s
* Domestic politics, 1988-1991
* The ISI and Nawaz Sharif, 1990-1993
* History repeats itself
* Foreign policy and the ISI
* Nawaz Sharif, second time around, 1997-1999
* Afghanistan in the 1990s
* Insurgency in Punjab
* The ISI in northeast india
* Structure- personnel- budget
* The ISI under pervez Musharraf
* The troubled valley : Kashmir
* Turbulent times, 2007-2010
* Reform attempt
* Clouds on the horizon
* Quote vadis, ISI ?
September 23, 2022
𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 : The ISI of Pakistan
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 : Hein G. Kiessling
Dr Hein G. Kiessling is political Scientist and Historian who lived in Pakistan from 1989 to 2002 during which he Forged close contacts with Pakistan Political, Military and Intelligence elites.In 2002,he was awarded Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
𝐘𝐎𝐏 : Nov 2016
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Pakistan Affairs/Non-fictional
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 4.8/5
𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰: Coming over to review of this Book. Its been divided into 21 Chapters.Total 246 Pages.
This Chapter is regarding Origin and causes of #ISI creation.ISI was established after 1948 War of Pakistan by Australian-British Officer Walter Joseph Cawthrone. He is was father of ISI and remind January-June 1948.He designed Agency basic blueprint on the lines of MI-6 and CIA.Till late 1960's mostly officers stint as head of agency comprises for 2 years.
This book give you wonderful insight of event during Zia's era overhauling of Agency. Then 1990's #ISI role in domestic politics and international counter-intelligence operations in Bosnia, Afghanistan and North east #India.
At the End, author will make you under #ISI structure and it's approx.budget.This book will make you under working of intelligence and Pakistan's politics and its policies..
#Recommended......
#Thanks
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 : Hein G. Kiessling
Dr Hein G. Kiessling is political Scientist and Historian who lived in Pakistan from 1989 to 2002 during which he Forged close contacts with Pakistan Political, Military and Intelligence elites.In 2002,he was awarded Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
𝐘𝐎𝐏 : Nov 2016
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Pakistan Affairs/Non-fictional
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 4.8/5
𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰: Coming over to review of this Book. Its been divided into 21 Chapters.Total 246 Pages.
This Chapter is regarding Origin and causes of #ISI creation.ISI was established after 1948 War of Pakistan by Australian-British Officer Walter Joseph Cawthrone. He is was father of ISI and remind January-June 1948.He designed Agency basic blueprint on the lines of MI-6 and CIA.Till late 1960's mostly officers stint as head of agency comprises for 2 years.
This book give you wonderful insight of event during Zia's era overhauling of Agency. Then 1990's #ISI role in domestic politics and international counter-intelligence operations in Bosnia, Afghanistan and North east #India.
At the End, author will make you under #ISI structure and it's approx.budget.This book will make you under working of intelligence and Pakistan's politics and its policies..
#Recommended......
#Thanks
October 10, 2023
The ISI of Pakistan, a writing of some form by a German analyst is startling act . Kieslling though has for his part spent more than a decade in Pakistan and huddled with the who’s who of Intelligence leadership, yet failed to come
up with a writing form which could entice a researcher of sorts. Though book does state facts however it lacks the reference concreteness required to detail a book for such a high order or sensitive organization. The book follows a typical western style of blowing events or anecdotes out of proportion to satisfy a fiction audience albeit it being a non fiction category book. Kieslling had access to many a verbal interactions or interviews yet still settled to subscribe with his western notion of things rather than applying a holistic approach to timeline of events. At times a tad bit sceptic of the ISI, author fails to acknowledge that it is a spy agency he is talking about. Not to mention, book also quotes from time to time Indian news references or interviews which destroys the very purpose of a genuine cultural study of such organizations. A good cover but a disappointing read 🙁
up with a writing form which could entice a researcher of sorts. Though book does state facts however it lacks the reference concreteness required to detail a book for such a high order or sensitive organization. The book follows a typical western style of blowing events or anecdotes out of proportion to satisfy a fiction audience albeit it being a non fiction category book. Kieslling had access to many a verbal interactions or interviews yet still settled to subscribe with his western notion of things rather than applying a holistic approach to timeline of events. At times a tad bit sceptic of the ISI, author fails to acknowledge that it is a spy agency he is talking about. Not to mention, book also quotes from time to time Indian news references or interviews which destroys the very purpose of a genuine cultural study of such organizations. A good cover but a disappointing read 🙁
December 17, 2025
Brilliant book!
Talks about ISI's evolution since Pak independence till 2014
The author never tried to be sympathetic to ISI but with a scholar's neutral eye analyzes what ISI does it with how and why. The author is very adept at painting pictures (of the personalities / the situations / the organization ) and the how events unfolded (from ISI pov as well as other sides). The author tries to explain why ISI does what it does but without taking their side.
Talks about ISI's evolution since Pak independence till 2014
The author never tried to be sympathetic to ISI but with a scholar's neutral eye analyzes what ISI does it with how and why. The author is very adept at painting pictures (of the personalities / the situations / the organization ) and the how events unfolded (from ISI pov as well as other sides). The author tries to explain why ISI does what it does but without taking their side.
February 13, 2018
I had high expectations of the book, based on its subject but i was quite disappointed to read it and found very little information that was new and not publicly available.
June 16, 2019
Excellent book
February 3, 2020
My full review on this book is available on the website mentioned below:
https://usama118.wordpress.com/2019/1...
https://usama118.wordpress.com/2019/1...
June 16, 2020
An account of ISI’s development and history.
January 29, 2021
Read like a commentary about ISI in backdrop of Pakistani politics. Emphasise is give more to political events and less on the role of ISI.
February 3, 2022
Great work, well researched. Reveling the truth about why ISI is formed at first place. Also first ISI DG Shahid Hamid is Salmon Rushdie maternal uncle.
Want to read
July 25, 2022Good book
March 28, 2024
Informative book.
April 18, 2025
Perhaps, the story never changed, only the characters acquire different names!
August 14, 2025
Terrible. A joke of a book with no real analysis. Just a poorly written/ edited list of names and dates. Atrocious.
February 5, 2021
Even though the book is very interesting, far too much detail makes the book a difficult read for casual readers.
September 5, 2019
I found the book to be informative and interesting yet giving the impression that ISI is nothing more than a rogue agency that the world powers has given a free hand to pursue their will. Which is somewhat hard to chew on.
March 10, 2017
A comprehensive history of Pakistan's infamous Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). Since there is no other book that describes ISI in comprehensive details, this book will remain a major source of history. Author has done a chronological treatment of ISI. After starting fom the front page for some time .. I started reading from the last to first chapters and that helped with recency factor of events taking more prominence. One key trait of Pakistan that emerges from this book is how politico military decision makers have used ISI. By creating "air gap" with dirty ISI component they have built Deniability into their DNA .. that is especially true in the way they have used religion and Islamic indoctrination to create insurgency into India and using Terrorism as a state instrument. One key dimension that has not emerged in the book is ISI and Chinese relationship and it's detailing. For that miss I have taken off a star in my rating !
September 9, 2018
Read with some discounts!
January 11, 2020
My review for thinkpragati.com
If Stanley Wolpert were to write a book on the ISI today on the lines of his work on Jinnah several decades back, he would probably have begun as follows: “Few external intelligence agencies are powerful enough to back governments of other nation-states. Fewer still have their own terrorist outfits. Hardly anyone can be credited with toppling their own governments. The ISI of Pakistan has done all three.”
That summarises Hein Kiessling’s Faith, Unity, Discipline — the first book-length study on the history, organisation, and activities of the ISI. The agency had humble beginnings in 1948, and remained the least important of the three main intelligence-gathering organisations for the next two decades, the other two being Military Intelligence (MI) and Intelligence Bureau (IB). Kiessling narrates how the fortunes of the ISI turned around with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, and it soon rose to become a major power broker in Pakistan, both internally and externally. In fact, since the early 1980s, the ISI’s story cannot be told without narrating every major historical event in Pakistan’s politics during this period.
Today the position of the ISI chief is de facto the third most important political institution in the country, behind only the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and the Prime Minister. From operating ‘jackals at midnight‘ to rigging elections, from giving stinger blueprints to North Korea to sending mujahids in Bosnia, the ISI has done it all. And hence, my only grouse with the author is that the title Fundamentalism, Upmanship, Deceit would have described the ISI’s pedigree better.
If Stanley Wolpert were to write a book on the ISI today on the lines of his work on Jinnah several decades back, he would probably have begun as follows: “Few external intelligence agencies are powerful enough to back governments of other nation-states. Fewer still have their own terrorist outfits. Hardly anyone can be credited with toppling their own governments. The ISI of Pakistan has done all three.”
That summarises Hein Kiessling’s Faith, Unity, Discipline — the first book-length study on the history, organisation, and activities of the ISI. The agency had humble beginnings in 1948, and remained the least important of the three main intelligence-gathering organisations for the next two decades, the other two being Military Intelligence (MI) and Intelligence Bureau (IB). Kiessling narrates how the fortunes of the ISI turned around with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, and it soon rose to become a major power broker in Pakistan, both internally and externally. In fact, since the early 1980s, the ISI’s story cannot be told without narrating every major historical event in Pakistan’s politics during this period.
Today the position of the ISI chief is de facto the third most important political institution in the country, behind only the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and the Prime Minister. From operating ‘jackals at midnight‘ to rigging elections, from giving stinger blueprints to North Korea to sending mujahids in Bosnia, the ISI has done it all. And hence, my only grouse with the author is that the title Fundamentalism, Upmanship, Deceit would have described the ISI’s pedigree better.
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