Research Catalog

Title

From Africa to Afghanistan : with Richards and NATO to Kabul / Greg Mills.

Author

Mills, Greg, 1962-

Publication

Johannesburg, South Africa : Wits University Press, 2007.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xxii, 236 p., [16] p. of plates : ill. (some col.), map; 24 cm.

Summary

This book documents renowned South African international relations academic Greg Mills's journey from South Africa to Afghanistan, where, by invitation of the commander of the ninth International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), he was asked to help establish a civilian think-tank within the ISAF headquarters in Kabul. This challenging task forced Mills to ask himself how to put into effect the theory of 20 years of academic study and policy advice and actually be able to make a difference on the ground. This is not another book about the war in Afghanistan. It is a challenge to political scientists and academics the world over to be the change you wish to see in the world (to paraphrase Mahatma Gandhi). Aside from the personal impact such reading can have on ever-idealistic peace builders, the academic value of the book lies in Mills's analysis of the challenges of trying to simultaneously stabilize and build a state with massive external involvement while also countering a violent insurgency.

Subject

• Mills, Greg, 1962- > Travel > Afghanistan
• Richards, David 1952-
• North Atlantic Treaty Organization > Armed Forces > Afghanistan
• International Security Assistance Force (Afghanistan)
• Since 2001
• Afghan War, 2001-2021
• War on Terrorism, 2001-2009
• Afghanistan > Politics and government > 2001-
• Afghanistan > History > 2001-2021
• Afghanistan > Description and travel

Genre/Form

History

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 228-229) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Foreword / Rory Stewart -- Modern Afghanistan Timeline -- Introduction: Why Afghanistan? -- The Place -- Bahrain to Islamabad -- First sniff of the air -- Early days -- Soviet lessons for NATO -- A new Great (NGO) Game -- Land and the economy -- Draining the swamp, tending Gardez -- Get rich by making things and selling them -- Groundhog Day in the bunny garden -- CUA and 'Hoohah!' - one people separated by a common language -- Failed states, governance and nation-building -- Black Hawk up to Bagram -- Where Bond meets Blofeld? Art Deco in Naglu -- Heat, dust and knowledge -- Two visions for the Middle East -- The People -- Commander and master diplomat -- From muj to politician: the other Mohammed Atta -- The new imperialists? -- Kabul's TV anti-hero -- Big dogs, Scotsmen and the midday sun -- Cool Afghan hand - and head -- Man in the shadows -- Of heroes and amputees -- Glimmers on the ground -- How Special Forces? -- The Process -- Lessons and ghosts in countering insurgency -- Imperialism and legitimacy -- The unbearable consequences of lightness -- Lessons from Somalia -- Searching for the golden thread: lessons from Bosnia and Kosovo -- First principles and contemporary constraints in countering insurgency -- Killing Escobar's image, building a Colombian state -- Club Med to Liberia? -- Who's to blame for the Middle East crisis? -- What makes Israel prosperous? -- Using soft power wisely -- The Middle East's 2006 annus horribilis -- Separating information, analysis and advice -- The media arc - glasses half empty? -- More than nuts, marble and fruit: dealing with drugs -- Asymmetric means - and ends -- The eighth pillar of wisdom? -- Time to talk to the Taliban? -- Conclusion: With Richards in Uruzgan: quo vadis peace-building?

ISBN

• 9781868144501
• 186814450X

LCCN

^^2008552595

OCLC

• 156810104
• SCSB-12846450

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library