Ahmed Rashid

Ahmed Rashid is a Pakistani journalist based in Lahore, who has covered Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia for a variety of publications since 1979. He is the author of the best selling ‘Taliban' which in April 2010 was reissued on its tenth anniversary with an updated version. His later book is “Descent into Chaos: The U.S. and the Disaster in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia.’’ His other books include "Jihad" (2002) and "The Resurgence of Central Asia." (1994) His fifth and latest book is "Pakistan on the Brink: The Future of America, Pakistan and Afghanistan." Both "Taliban" and "Descent into Chaos" are on course lists at over 200 universities and defense colleges around the world. He writes for The Financial Times, The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, Spain’s El Mundo, BBC Online, and Pakistani publications. In 2001 he won the Nisar Osmani Courage in Journalism Award, given by the Human Rights Society of Pakistan. At the invitation of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, he became the first journalist to address the UN General Assembly in New York in September 2002, and the first journalist to address NATO ambassadors in Brussels in September 2003. In 2008 he won Spain’s prestigious Casa Asia prize for contributing most about Asia to the Spanish people. The following year he was presented with the prize for best columnist in the Spanish press by King Juan Carlos at a dinner honoring him. In December 2009 he was appointed a member of the board of New York’s Committee to Protect Journalists, while Foreign Policy magazine chose him as one of the world’s most important 100 Global Thinkers in 2009 and 2010. He has also served on the Board of Advisers for the International Committee of the Red Cross for five years. His books have won numerous prizes.