His book Taliban first introduced American readers to the brutal regime that hijacked Afghanistan and harbored the terrorist group responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Now, Rashid examines the region and the corridors of power in Washington and Europe to see how the promised nation building in these countries has pro-gressed. His conclusions are devastating: An unstable and nuclear-armed Pakistan, a renewed al’ Qaeda profiting from a booming opium trade, and a Taliban resurgence and reconquest. While Iraq continues to attract most of American media and military might, Rashid argues that Pakistan and Afghanistan are where the conflict will finally be played out and that these failing states pose a graver threat to global security than the Middle East.

他的书《塔利班》首先向美国读者介绍了劫持阿富汗、窝藏应对9/11袭击负责的恐怖组织的残酷政权。现在，拉希德考察了该地区以及华盛顿和欧洲的权力走廊，看看这些国家承诺的国家建设进展如何。他的结论是毁灭性的：一个不稳定和拥有核武器的巴基斯坦，一个从蓬勃发展的鸦片贸易中获利的基地组织的复兴，以及塔利班的重新崛起和收复。虽然伊拉克继续吸引美国媒体和军事力量的大部分，拉希德认为，巴基斯坦和阿富汗的冲突将最终上演，这些失败的国家构成了比中东更严重的全球安全威胁。