Bloodlines: The Imperial Roots of Terrorism in South Asia - Softcover

Dutta, Sunil

9780983074571: Bloodlines: The Imperial Roots of Terrorism in South Asia

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0983074577 ISBN 13: 9780983074571

Publisher: Agilepress, 2015

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.

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About the Author:

Sunil Dutta, Ph.D. is a police officer in the Los Angeles Police Department and an adjunct professor of Security Studies at Colorado Technical University.

Sunil was born and raised in a refugee family in India. An outspoken advocate of criminal justice reform, his forward-thinking views on policing and history of the Indian subcontinent have appeared in the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, Pakistan Times, Newsweek, The Nation, and elsewhere.

He is a scholar of Urdu poetry and translated the renowned poet Mirza Ghalib's poetry with Robert Bly, "The Lightning Should Have Fallen on Ghalib". Dutta is also a student and promoter of Dhrupad, an ancient musical art of India, and has produced several Dhrupad recordings.

He lives in Los Angeles.

Review:

"Dr. Dutta argues that U.S. homeland security depends on a successful political resolution to the seemingly endless wars in South Asia, and that this in turn requires us to take seriously the colonial history that birthed violence in Afghanistan, India and Pakistan. His ultimate message is hopeful: it is possible for the United States to help reduce the level of conflicts in South Asia, and improve homeland security, by acting on the lessons yet to be learned from the region's past."
--Christopher Bellavita, Director of Academic Programs, Center for Homeland Defense and Security

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