Bloodlines: The Imperial Roots of Terrorism in South Asia

Terrorism emerging in South Asia, specifically in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, has had a profound impact around the world. The region remains one of the world’s poorest, most unstable, and most terrorism-stricken areas. Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and numerous other militant Islamist groups continue to thrive in this milieu. A succession of misguided Western and local counter-terrorism policies has failed to address the dynamics that underlie these conflicts-and so the recruitment, training, and violence continue. Conventional analyses trace the origin of the region’s terrorism to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and American support for the mujahideen in 1980’s. This merely scratches the surface and fails to grasp the depth and strength of terrorism’s root causes. This book provides much-needed depth to our understanding the original causes and ongoing dynamics of terrorism in South Asia. Tracing today’s challenges and threats to decisions made by the British colonial government, it provides a critical-historical analysis of the emergence of terrorism in the region, the nexus between the Taliban and al Qaeda, and the reasons for Pakistan’s instrumental support of terrorism as a matter of state policy. By taking this deep view, the book not only shines a light on the ongoing threat dynamics, but also lays the groundwork for understanding realistic U.S. policy options.