One of the most influential and highest-ranking U.S. government officials of Muslim descent details his experiences as the American ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq, and the U.N., and offers insights and analysis of the current Middle East.

Preface: from Kabul to Baghdad: Kabul, June 20, 2015 -- Part I. Early life -- Poppy fields and tree-lined boulevards: Afghanistan, 1951-1965 -- Journey to the other side of the world: the United States, 1966-1967 -- Into the cauldron of politics: Kabul and Beirut, 1968-1974 -- Aspiring strategist: Chicago and New York City, 1974-1979 -- The Mujahedeen and the halls of power: New York and Washington, D.C., 1980-1989 -- Containing Saddam: Washington, D.C., 1988-1992 -- Crafting grand strategy for a unipolar world: Washington, D.C., 1991-1992 -- One nation's disintegration, one man's destiny: Washington, D.C., 1993-2001 -- Part II. Bush administration -- The calm before the storm: Washington, D.C., January-September 2001 -- America under attack: Washington, D.C., September 2001 -- A quest for leaders in tyranny's shadow: Washington, D.C., and Bonn, Germany, September-December 2001 -- Return to Kabul: Kabul and Washington, D.C., January-June 2002 -- Loya Jirga: Kabul, June-July 2002 -- Eyes elsewhere: Washington, D.C., December 2002-February 2003 -- Planning post-war Iraq inside Iraq: Ankara, Turkey, and Salahuddin, Iraq, February 2002 -- Iraq: from liberation to occupation: Washington, D.C., and Baghdad, March-May 2003 -- Accelerating success in Afghanistan: Washington, D.C., May-November 2003 -- Ambassador: Kabul, November 2003 to January 2005 -- Builders versus spoilers: Afghanistan, 2003-2004 -- Fruits of democracy: Kabul, 2004-2005 -- Preparing for Iraq: Washington, D.C., November 2004-July 2005 -- Repairing Iraq: Baghdad, july-December 2005 -- Forging a national unity government: Baghdad, December 2005-May 2006 -- Struggling against the cycle of sectarian violence: Baghdad, 2006-2007 -- Permanent representative to the United Nations: New York, 2007-2009 -- Part III. America in the world -- A more dangerous world: 2015 -- A life of lessons in strategy and statecraft: 2016 and beyond.