The Uncrowned Kings of the East: Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan. From Tribal Structure to the Autocracies of the 21st Century

Georgy Asatryan’s new book offers an in-depth, multi-layered study of political and economic processes in Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and more broadly in the Middle East. The author examines how the “Taliban” managed to come to power and shows what significance the USSR and the USA had in shaping regional regimes. The work continues the intellectual line set by Edward Said in “Orientalism,” while the tangled plotlines of the “Great Game” are presented in a clear and accessible way. This edition helps see the key causes of the world confrontation “East vs. West” not only through the lens of Marxism and postcolonial theory, but in all the complexity and variety of factors.