The Wire: (Book Review) – Timothy Nunan’s Humanitarian Invasion: Global Development in Cold War Afghanistan is an insightful and lucid account of contemporary Afghanistan. This is a magisterial undertaking that belongs to a new genre – a book on development, steeped in history, and embellished with insights on contemporary regional and global politics. It is easy to find excellent, first-hand battlefield accounts on Afghanistan and readable memoirs of journalists and diplomats who have lived there, but few great, scholarly accounts exist that can explain why the country should still be unravelling after decades of ‘humanitarian’ intervention. Timothy Nunan’s work is a compulsory reference point for any student of history or geo-strategy seeking knowledge about an important part of the world straddling Iran, Central Asia, Transoxiana, China and South Asia. Click here to read more (external link).