The Selected Writings of Eqbal Ahmad

Front Cover
Columbia University Press, 2006 - History - 637 pages
Activist, journalist, and theorist, Eqbal Ahmad (1934-1999) was admired and consulted by revolutionaries and activists as well as policymakers and academics. In articles and columns published in such journals as the Nation, New York Review of Books, Monthly Review, and newspapers in Pakistan and Cairo, Ahmad inspired new ways of thinking about global issues. Whether writing on the rise of militant Islam, the conflict in Kashmir, U.S. involvement in Vietnam, or the cynical logic of Cold War geopolitics, Ahmad offered incisive, passionate, and often prophetic analyses of the major political events and movements of the second half of the twentieth century.

This work is the first to collect Ahmad's writings in a single volume. It reflects his distinct understanding of world politics as well as his profound sense of empathy for those living in poverty and oppression. He was a fierce opponent of imperialism and corruption and advocated democratic transformations in postcolonial and third-world societies. A uniquely perceptive critic of colonialism and U.S. foreign policy, Ahmad was equally vigilant in his criticisms of third-world dictatorships.

Like few other writers, Ahmad's life experiences shaped his political views. He grew up amidst the turmoil of postcolonial India, worked alongside the Algerian FLN in their fight against the French occupation, and later became a prominent spokesperson for peace between Israel and Palestine.
 

Contents

How to Tell When the Rebels Have Won
13
Counterinsurgency
36
The Lessons of Vietnam
65
Fifteen Years Later
81
Remembering Sidi Mohammed
94
Introduction by Carollee Bengelsdorf and Margaret Cerullo
107
Postcolonial Systems of Power
128
Notes on the Pathology of Power
142
King Husseins Dual Legacy
381
SOUTH ASIA 318
387
Introduction by Yogesh Chandrani and Radha Kumar
389
PARTITION AND INDEPENDENCE
401
Partitioned Lands Divided Sentiments
403
ON JINNAH
413
Jinnah in a Class of His Own
415
The Betrayed Promise
419

War of the Rentier States
154
Islam and Politics
160
Roots of the Religious Right
179
Introduction by Carollee Bengelsdorf and Margaret Cerullo
193
The Cold War from the Standpoint of Its Victims
219
Yet Again a New Nixon
228
A World of Pain
245
Theirs and Ours
257
A Time to Remember
267
Neglected Perspectives
274
Covering the Middle East
283
Introduction by Noubar Hovsepian
293
American Diplomacy in the Middle East
318
An Essay on Reconciliation
350
On Arab Bankruptcy
357
The Public Relations of Ethnocide
360
Peace of the Weak
369
Beyond Arafats Antics
373
An Address in Gaza
377
PAKISTANS MILITARY
423
Letter to a Pakistani Diplomat
425
Signposts to a Police State
431
General Zia Is Now the Law
446
AFGHANISTAN
449
Bloody Games
453
Stalemate at Jalalabad
493
In a Land Without Music
500
Talibans Unlikely Story
504
What After Strategic Depth?
509
Jihad International Inc
514
Beyond Mutual Destruction
523
Indias Obsession Our Choice
539
No Alternative to Dialogue
548
No Not Again
555
Shotgun Governance
563
Permissions
597
Index
603
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