Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia

Jihad by Ahmed Rashid provides an explanation for the rise of militant Islam in Central Asia. I purchased this book because I enjoyed another of Rashid's works, Taliban, and because it was on sale. Within the first few pages, the significance of Rashid's book is obvious. For one, the author is an objective journalist (that term should be redundant but, sadly, it isn't) with first-hand experience in the region. And, more importantly, Jihad was largely written before 11 September 2001, before our national interest in religious extremism became colored by emotion and an agenda to support USA military efforts in the Middle East. As argued by Rashid, the seeds of today's radical Islamic movement in Central Asia were planted by Stalin. The present borders of those republics -- Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan -- were drawn by that dictator explicitly to fragment ethnic allegiances, to try and force the local populations to become homogenized (but 2nd class) members of the Soviet empire. Collectivization caused further resentment, as did Bolshevik suppression of Islam. But all the latter accomplished was to push religious practice underground and give the people a rallying point to come together against the government. When the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s, leaving former Communist Party members as presidents of the five republics, the equilibrium changed. The government was still unpopular and oppressive, and Islam was still officially to be suppressed, but the governments had lost their power to achieve their objectives. With the repeal of Soviet control came the withdrawal of Soviet forces and resources. Militant Islamic groups, suddenly free(r) to seek their own agendas, rose up to divide and topple the reigning, impotent regimes. Rashid works systematically through various movements in the region and their histories, but he pays special attention to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and its connection with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Jihad by Ahmed Rashid is a valuable and important book for anyone that wants to understand how the rise of militant Islam is not a new phenomenon but a continuation -- an effect -- of the Cold War.

Usually any book dealing with any aspect of Islam or other religions is either blatantly biased for or against that religion. Rashid manages to pull the attribution of all things to religion out of discussing Central Asia. He effectively demonstrates the impact of political economy and historical features on the regions lack of stability. Then he shows how religion--in this case Islam--aligns with these historical trends and impacts the country. The part I really appreciate about this book is how he resolves all these aspects into the "bigger picture" of how it affects Central Asia. Reading this book will also enable you to see how social movements occur transnationally in a smaller region (Central Asia comprises 5 countries). Very timely for today's events.

Ahmed Rashid's "Taliban" was a more entertaining read, but "Jihad" is perhaps the more important contribution. Central Asia still means nothing to Americans today, but our children will wonder why we were so careless and inattentive as the failed "...stans" turned into breeding grounds of terror and extremism on our watch. My favorite quote from this book is one by a Pakistani scholar who warns, "A failed state is not a dying state, although it can be that too. A failed state is one in which failure of policies is never considered sufficient reason to reconsider them." How well that applies, not only to Central Asia, but Pakistan, the EU, and even the current American administration. At least we all may now be reaching the lowest common denominator.

Having spent my whole life up until very recently living and working in Central Asia for the US goverment working with aid agencies, I long ago gave up on finding a book I could share with friends that could explain the Byzantine politics of this region. Here we have countries rich in resources filled with hard working, good people and ruled by dictators that America has unwisely allied with. These dictators are fueling the hatred that will be turned against the US by our enemies.In fact years ago Rashid warned the west about the Taliban in several articles and had to stay out of that country for years because of the danger to his life.While the author and I have very different political philosophies, I cannot disparage his journalism. It is thorough and insightful. If you want to understand this region, don't read a book by some Western journalist who spends two weeks here and two months in a public library doing research. Read a book by a man who grew up here and has covered this region for years.The only people who won't like this book are the despots in the Central Asian nations who are eager to rob that region of it's riches while the eyes of the world are on Afghanistan and Iraq.It's time to head Rashid's warnings before we end up with a whole region filled with Afghanistans and Iraqs...

This book is as well-conceived, well-researched, and well-written as Rashid's earlier *Taliban*. It makes a convincing case for why Islamic terrorist groups are likely to base their operations in coming years out of central Asia's ex-Soviet states. Two points in particular are worth considering. The first is that the collapse of the Soviet Union is still continuing to send out shock waves no one could've predicted. The USSR's abuse of the central Asian republics and their ensuing dismal economic and political status today have created a seedbed for discontent. This is sad confirmation of the destructive legacy of imperialism, regardless of whether the imperialism is practiced by the political right or left. The scond point is that the Islamic extremism that's growing in the central Asian republics isn't at all homegrown. It's imported, largely from Saudi Arabia and wahabism. The homegrown Islam of the Asian states tends to be contemplative and pietistic--Sufism. But the new imported brand, rule-bound, rigid, and obsessed with recreating an international Caliphate, is beginning to destroy the native Sufi orientation. Rashid's "Jihad,*, just like the earlier *Taliban,* has at least one clear lesson: economic penury and Western overbearing creates material and psychological conditions that can be manipulated by terrorists. The western powers ought to take this lesson to heart. Rashid points out that, despite the growth of militant Islam in the central Asian republics, the natives there aren't particularly anti-American as yet. It remains to be seen whether they stay that way. A great deal of their attitude will surely depend on U.S. foreign policy in the months to come.