Ahmed Rashid photo

Ahmed Rashid

Son of Ahmed (an engineer) and Piari (a homemaker) Rashid; married Angeles Espino Perez- Hurtado, 1982; children: Raphael, Sara Bano. Education: Attended Government College, Lahore, Pakistan, 1966- 68, and Cambridge University, 1968-70; earned B.A. and M.A. Religion: Muslim. Addresses: Homeoffice: Lahore Cant., Pakistan. E-mail: [email protected].

Career: Journalist and broadcaster. Correspondent for Daily Telegraph, London, England, and formerly for Far Eastern Economic Review, Hong Kong; broadcaster for international radio and television networks such as British Broadcasting Corporation and Cable News Network. Member, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

Ahmed Rashid is a Pakistani journalist and best-selling author. Rashid attended Malvern College, England, Government College Lahore, and Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. He serves as the Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review and the Daily Telegraph. He also writes for the Wall Street Journal, The Nation, and academic journals. He appears regularly on international TV and radio networks such as CNN and BBC World.

Rashid's 2000 book, Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia, was a New York Times bestseller for five weeks, translated into 22 languages, and has sold 1.5 million copies since the September 11, 2001 attacks.[1] The book was used extensively by American analysts in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

His latest book, "Descent into Chaos: The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia"[1], is a scathing critique of both America and Europe's failure to invest in rebuilding Afghanistan and Pakistan's role in allowing Taliban and Al-Qaeda elements to regroup in Pakistan.

His commentary also appears in the Washington Post's PostGlobal segment.

Rashid lives in Lahore, Pakistan with his wife and two children.


“Afghanistan is not only the mirror of the Afghans: it is the mirror of the world. 'If you do not like the image in the mirror, do not break the mirror, break your face,' says an old Persian proverb.”
Ahmed Rashid
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