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'The authors' research and scholarship make a powerful case and their book is likely to become the definitive text on the matter.' ----International Affairs
'Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the war in Afghanistan. In offering a forensic dissection of the relationship between al Qaeda and the Taliban, over many years, it offers bad news, and good news: that, in taking on the Taliban, we may be fighting the wrong enemy in the wrong country; but that the Taliban may be open to a negotiated settlement-provided America gets on with it.' ----Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, British Ambassador to Kabul 2007-2009, Special Representative for Afghanistan
'This book is one of the best informed, most sophisticated and most insightful works yet to appear on the Afghan Taliban and their relationship to Al-Qaeda. It makes a brilliant contribution to Afghan historiography, and should be compulsory reading for Western policymakers working on Afghanistan today.' ----Professor Anatol Lieven, King's College London
'Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the war in Afghanistan. In offering a forensic dissection of the relationship between al Qaeda and the Taliban, over many years, it offers bad news, and good news: that, in taking on the Taliban, we may be fighting the wrong enemy in the wrong country; but that the Taliban may be open to a negotiated settlement-provided America gets on with it.' ----Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, British Ambassador to Kabul 2007-2009, Special Representative for Afghanistan
'This book is one of the best informed, most sophisticated and most insightful works yet to appear on the Afghan Taliban and their relationship to Al-Qaeda. It makes a brilliant contribution to Afghan historiography, and should be compulsory reading for Western policymakers working on Afghanistan today.' ----Professor Anatol Lieven, King's College London
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To this day the belief is widespread that the Taliban and al-Qaeda are in many respects synonymous, that their ideology and objectives are closely intertwined and that they have made common cause against the West for decades. Such opinions have been stridently supported by politicians, media pundits and senior military figures, yet they have hardly ever been scrutinised or tested empirically. This is all the more surprising given that the West's present entanglement in Afghanistan is commonly predicated on the need to defeat the Taliban in order to forestall further terrorist attacks worldwide. There is thus an urgent need to re-examine the known facts of the Taliban-al Qaeda relationship and to tell the story of the Taliban's encounter with internationalist militant Islamism, which is what Alex Strick van Linschoten and Felix Kuehn set out to do in An Enemy We Created. Their book also responds to the overheated rhetoric that sustains a one-sided interpretation of the alleged merger between the two groups as well as the policy implications for Afghanistan that flowed in the wake of its acceptance by Western governments and their militaries. The relationship between the two groups and the individuals who established them is undeniably complex, and has remained so for many years. Links between the Taliban and al-Qaeda were retained in the face of a shared enemy following the invasion of Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks, an adversary that was selected by al-Qaeda rather than by the Taliban, and which led the latter to become entangled in a war that was not of its choosing. This book is the first to examine in detail the relationship from the Taliban s perspective based on Arabic, Dari and Pashtu sources, drawing on the authors many years experience in southern Afghanistan, the Taliban s heartland. They also interviewed Taliban decision-makers, field commanders and ordinary fighters while immersing themselves in Kandahar s society. Van Linschoten s and Kuehn s forensic examination of the evolution of the two groups allows the background and historical context that informed their respective ideologies to come to the fore. The story of those individuals who were to become their key decision-makers, and the relationships among all those involved, from the mid-1990s onwards, reveal how complex the interactions were between the Taliban and al-Qaeda and how they frequently diverged rather than converged. An Enemy We Created concludes that there is room to engage the Taliban on the issues of renouncing al-Qaeda and guaranteeing that Afghanistan will deny sanctuary to international terrorists. Yet the insurgency is changing, and it could soon be too late to find a political solution. The authors contend that certain aspects of the campaign in Afghanistan, especially night raids and attempts to fragment and decapitate the Taliban, are transforming the resistance, creating more opportunities for al-Qaeda and helping it to attain its objectives.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is an excellent book, and a courageous one. It tells a different story on the relationship between the Taliban and Al Qaeda from that which dominates Western narratives since 9/11, and which remains at the core of the intervention in Afghanistan. It is also the result of on-the-ground research in places where few westerners venture. Alex Strick van Linschoten and Felix Kuehn provide a wealth of new insight into the mindset of the Taliban leadership, especially regarding their relationship with the wider world -- Al Qaeda, Pakistan and the West. I highly recommend their book to anyone working on Afghanistan.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
An amazing achievement! This one book summarizes and explains just so much of the history and formation of al-Qaeda and the Taliban, how they interacted, Afghanistan, partly Pakistan, and of course the western invasion and its consequences.
The thesis of the book is of course the twofold one that al-Qaeda and the Taliban are two completely different organizations, and that the West, and especially the US, made the Taliban into an enemy by attacking it, after assuming and claiming that they were very close to, or even part of, al-Qaeda. The book thoroughly and completely demolishes this thesis.
Even a few years ago this book was not publishable. It has finally seeing the day now that the time is near for the western allied forces to pull out, with virtually none of their objectives achieved.
Whether or not you agree with the thesis of the book, it is hard not to admire the dedication, scholarship and skills that went into producing it. One of the authors learnt Pashto for the interviews. The co-authors had to live as guests of a clan / extended family in Kandahar, the "Taliban capital", for years to build up enough trust to conduct the interviews on which the book is based. For most or all of this period they were the only non-embedded (i.e. non-military-embedded) westerners living there, without escorts, bodyguard or any special protection.
The book is a joy to read. It is at an academic level of quality and scholarship, but it reads easily and the style is limpid. It has been provided with a glossary and extensive index to make sure readers can keep their bearings.
A great contribution to the possibility of achieving an understanding of Afghanistan and its history, which will be vital when the work starts next year to undo the damage that the so terribly ill-judged western invasion has done to this very poor and complex country with a long tradition of independence, which over the centuries has suffered so terribly at the hands of ambitious imperialist foreign powers.
It is all the more timely and relevant to read the book in this period in which major decisions are about to be taken about the withdrawal of most of the allied forces in the next couple of years.
All praise to Hurst publishers, to have enabled and facilitated this contribution to knowledge!
The thesis of the book is of course the twofold one that al-Qaeda and the Taliban are two completely different organizations, and that the West, and especially the US, made the Taliban into an enemy by attacking it, after assuming and claiming that they were very close to, or even part of, al-Qaeda. The book thoroughly and completely demolishes this thesis.
Even a few years ago this book was not publishable. It has finally seeing the day now that the time is near for the western allied forces to pull out, with virtually none of their objectives achieved.
Whether or not you agree with the thesis of the book, it is hard not to admire the dedication, scholarship and skills that went into producing it. One of the authors learnt Pashto for the interviews. The co-authors had to live as guests of a clan / extended family in Kandahar, the "Taliban capital", for years to build up enough trust to conduct the interviews on which the book is based. For most or all of this period they were the only non-embedded (i.e. non-military-embedded) westerners living there, without escorts, bodyguard or any special protection.
The book is a joy to read. It is at an academic level of quality and scholarship, but it reads easily and the style is limpid. It has been provided with a glossary and extensive index to make sure readers can keep their bearings.
A great contribution to the possibility of achieving an understanding of Afghanistan and its history, which will be vital when the work starts next year to undo the damage that the so terribly ill-judged western invasion has done to this very poor and complex country with a long tradition of independence, which over the centuries has suffered so terribly at the hands of ambitious imperialist foreign powers.
It is all the more timely and relevant to read the book in this period in which major decisions are about to be taken about the withdrawal of most of the allied forces in the next couple of years.
All praise to Hurst publishers, to have enabled and facilitated this contribution to knowledge!
Format:Hardcover
I recommend this book for anybody seeking a clearer understanding of the Taliban's worldview, and in particular its relationship with al Qaeda.
Through meticulous research conducted through documents and interviews, the authors have built up the most detailed study I have read on the linkages between the two movements.
They are particularly insightful in explaining how outsiders often misinterpreted Mullah Omar's motivations due to their lack of understanding of the cultural norms in southern Afghanistan, which played a major role in shaping his outlook.
This is a must-read for anybody seeking to go beyond the usual narratives on the Afghan conflict and look through the eyes of the chief protagonists.
Through meticulous research conducted through documents and interviews, the authors have built up the most detailed study I have read on the linkages between the two movements.
They are particularly insightful in explaining how outsiders often misinterpreted Mullah Omar's motivations due to their lack of understanding of the cultural norms in southern Afghanistan, which played a major role in shaping his outlook.
This is a must-read for anybody seeking to go beyond the usual narratives on the Afghan conflict and look through the eyes of the chief protagonists.
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