Frontier of Fear

The troubled borderland of Pakistan and Afghanistan the so-called AfPak region is one of the most dangerous areas of the world. Between 2006 and 2010 David L. Gosling lived in Peshawar, the provincial capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, where he was principal of Edwardes College, a prestigious higher education college, affiliated with the University of Peshawar. In this book, Gosling describes his time at Edwardes College and the challenges and changes of his tenure. Already the first co-educational college in the province, Gosling significantly increased the proportion of female students and staff. The book also describes the early stages of Taliban growth in Afghanistan, its spill-over into the tribal borderlands of Pakistan and how a combination of Pakistan army activity and US drone strikes provoked a furious backlash by Taliban groups against civilian targets in and around Peshawar, including death threats against the author. Providing a personal account of the education and politics of this frontier region, this book offers a unique viewpoint on a part of the world which is often misunderstood."

Autorentext

David L. Gosling was principal of Edwardes College in the University of Peshawar, Pakistan, from 2006 to 2010. He is a Life Member and former Spalding Fellow at Clare Hall, University of Cambridge and has held lectureships and visiting fellowships in the universities of Hull, Lancaster and Delhi and at the East-West Center in Hawaii.

Inhalt

Foreword
Introduction
The Prince who never came
Brave new world
The daily round
Enter the Taliban
In the eye of the storm
Islam in context
Educational renaissance
The dominant minority
Trials and tribulations
Finally - a new beginning?
Afterword
Appendix 1: The investigation of the embezzlement
Appendix 2: Annual Report to the Board of Governors, May 2010
Appendix 3: Pakistan's role in securing a permanent Afghan peace. Analysis commissioned for submission to US Defense Secretary, March 2011
Glossary of terms
Recommended reading
Index