Research Paper on:
Ahmed Rashid's Taliban

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
war in Afghanistan gives author Ahmed Rashid rare insight into the historical unrest in that part of the world. In this book, Rashid places the Taliban in its historical and  social context explaining the barbaric, cruel and repressive nature of this cult, how they came to power and the nature of the underlying issues in Afghanistan, a nation of about  15 million people. Rashid compares what has happened in Afghanistan in recent years and refers to it as a new Great Game in Central Asia. In the late 19th  century, there was a colonial struggle for hegemony; in the late 20th century, it is a conflict and struggle between nations (Russia, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the  United States and others) and oil companies for oil interests in the region and manipulating the conflicts in Afghanistan to suit their own interests and needs. This is certainly one  of Rashids major points in the book. Rashid, however, takes the reader back to more than 5,000 years ago when the first Afghani towns were constructed and established. This  is a very ancient culture that has lived with strife almost from its beginnings. The country and its people have been turned into an object of political power by Persians,  the Mongols, the British, the Soviets and the Pakistanis over the centuries. From that brief historical background, Rashid brings the reader to the struggles in the 20th century. Rashid introduces  the very elusive Mullah Mohammed Omar, who came from a small village and rose to become the head of the Taliban. It is Omar who is responsible for developing and  leading one of the most repressive regimes in the world. Omar gathers around him teenagers who are orphans of war and students and turns them into zealot fighters who publicly