Veteran defense analyst and Afghanistan expert David Isby provides an insightful and meticulously researched look at the current situation in Afghanistan, its history, and what he believes must be done so that the US-NATO coalition can succeed in one of the poorest countries in the world, rife with divisions that dwarf current schisms in Iraq, led by warlords who fight over control of the drug trade as much as they do over religion. After seven years and billions of dollars, the task of implementing an effective US policy and cementing Afghani rule is hampered by what Isby sees as separate but overlapping conflicts between terrorism, narcotics, and regional rivalries, each requiring different strategies to resolve. Pulling these various threads together will be the challenge for the Obama administration, yet it is a challenge that can be met.-- From publisher description.

Subtitle on cover is : Gravehard of empires : a new history of the borderland. Subtitle on dust jacket is : Gravehard of empires : a new history of the borderland. Includes maps of: [Afghanistan and Pakistan]. Subtitle on dust jacket is : Graveyard of empires : a new history of the borderland.

Out of the vortex -- part 1. Lands in the vortex. Afghanistan: a country defined by conflicts -- Dwellers in the vortex -- Pakistan in the vortex -- part 2. Threats from the vortex. Transnational terrorism -- Afghan insurgents -- Afghan narcotics -- Afghanistan's internal conflicts -- Pakistan's insurgency -- part 3. Winning the conflicts. Countering Afghanistan's insurgency -- Aid and development -- Conclusion: the future.