Antonio Giustozzi has spent more than a decade visiting, researching, and writing on Afghanistan. He is based at the Crisis States Research Centre at the LSE, where he focuses on the political aspects of insurgency and warlordism. His most recent book is Koran, Kalashnikov and Laptop, also published by Hurst.
'An outstanding and important collection - just the sort of locally
specific, openly debatable, scholarly analysis ... that will be
required more and more if the international community is ever to
understand the insurgents and divine how to prevent a second
Taliban revolution... as up-to-date as scholarship can be.'
*Steve Coll (Pulitzer Prize-winner), The New Yorker*
'Some evidence that the Taliban have moved on since they were in
power is provided by Antonio Giustozzi, who has edited a collection
of essays entitled Decoding the New Taliban... Giustozzi argues
that the Taliban realise their old position on education was
self-defeating and lost them support, and the line is now being
reversed. In Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand, according to Tom
Coghlan, one of Giustozzi's contributors, people in September 2008
'reported a strikingly less repressive interpretation of the
Taliban's social edicts.' They no longer ban TV, music,
dog-fighting and kite-flying; nor do they insist on the old rule
that men grow beards long enough to be held in the fist.'
*Jonathan Steele, London Review of Books*
Provides a nuanced micro-level view of the country... One of the
most significant contributions ... is the insight into the modus
operandi of the insurgency.'
*Foreign Affairs*
'Far removed from the usual clichés and hasty generalisations,
Decoding the New Taliban offers the reader a keen, first-hand sense
of field research in Afghanistan, with all its uncertainties and
contradictions. the authors, working on different regions or
themes, offer new data and thought-provoking analyses. this book is
an important step in understanding our failure in the current
war.'
*Gilles Dorronsoro, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and
author of Revolution Unending: Afghanistan 1979 to the Present*
Antonio Giustozzi has succeeded in drawing together an excellent
collection of perceptive essays from eminent and distinguished
contributors. The focus on developments in diverse Afghan
localities ensures that there is much in the volume that is novel,
and instructive for both specialist and general readers. I would
strongly recommend that it be published, and given the exceptional
topicality of its subject-matter, the sooner the better.'
*Professor William Maley, author, Rescuing Afghanistan*
A valuable collection . . . [that] offer[s] important clues that
could help to answer some of the most pressing foreign policy
questions now confronting the Obama administration.'
*David Rohde, The New Republic*
'This well-researched book contains valuable insight on the command
and control of the Taliban.'
*Military Review*
'Decoding the New Taliban is a serious and comprehensive collection
of essays written by authorities on their subject matter that will
directly benefit those who find themselves on the ground with the
Afghan people and among the still evolving Neo-Taliban.'
*Middle East Quarterly*
'Decoding the New Taliban is one of the only sources where one can
find concrete, specific, and up-to-date information on the
structure, strategy, and operations of the Taliban insurgents.
Along with Giustozzi's earlier book, Koran, Kalashnikov, and
Laptop, Decoding the New Taliban is essential reading for anyone
interested in the challenges facing the United States in bringing
stability to this crucial region of the world.'
*Professor David B. Edwards, Willliams College, author of Before
Taliban: Genealogies of the Afghan Jihad*
Ask a Question About this Product More... |