NOJUMI, Neamatollah

PERSONAL: Immigrated to the United States, 1991.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Palgrave/St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10010.

CAREER: Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, scholar. Speaker and consultant, has appeared on ABC's Nightline and NBC's Dateline. Served as an advisor to Mujahadeen leader Ismail Kahn. Military service: Fought against Soviet invasion in Afganistan, 1979-88.

WRITINGS:

The Rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan: Mass Mobilization, Civil War, and the Future of the Region, Palgrave (New York, NY), 2002.

SIDELIGHTS: Neamatollah Nojumi was raised in Afghanistan, fought with the Mujahadeen resistance against the Soviets from 1979 to 1988, and served as an advisor to Mujahadeen leader Ismail Kahn. Involved in humanitarian efforts to help displaced Afghans, he frequently appears as a speaker on the politics of his country. Nojumi wrote The Rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan: Civil War, Mass Mobilization, and the Future of the Region, which follows the history of Afghanistan from the Communist upheaval of the 1970s to the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban in 1996, to the events following the terrorist attack on the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City on September 11, 2001.

Nojumi offers an explanation of how Afghanistan has become a base for radical fundamentalism and shows how internal factors and foreign intervention, including the withdrawal of U.S. foreign aid, have weakened Afghan communities, destroyed the agricultural economy, and strengthened the Taliban. A Publishers Weekly writer commented that Nojumi "describes how war and decades of foreign interference eroded the traditional relationship between an Afghani central government and the local tribal councils, or jirgas." Nojumi argues that a third political movement outside of the nationalist and Islamic movements and supported by the international community is the ultimate solution for overcoming the political puzzle that threatens to remain unsolved for some time.

Library Journal's Marcia L. Sprules felt that Nojumi's "theoretical framework is poorly explained, and his story frequently bogs down in the minutiae of thrust and parry of the long struggle for power." A Kirkus Reviews contributor called The Rise of the Taliban in Afphanistan "bland but thorough, and capable of delivering those notes toward an understanding of the Taliban so obviously necessary today. It is no small feat what Nojumi endeavors to do here."

In an interview with Nojumi for the Institute for Global Engagement Web site, he was asked whether he thought the Bush administration's response to the terrorist attacks had been effective, he replied, "In the beginning, they seemed to be confused about how to proceed, but they are quickly becoming more aware of the realities around Afghanistan."

In an address at Nassau Community College posted on Newsday.com Nojumi noted that countries that include the United States made policy errors in abandoning Afghanistan to Pakistani rule following the withdrawal of the Soviets in 1989. He believes that "U.S.-led military campaign to root out Osama bin Laden and his terror network, al-Qaida, from Afghanistan must be accompanied by a comprehensive effort to rebuild Afghanistan, both politically and economically."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Kirkus Reviews, November 15, 2001, review of The Rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan: Mass Mobilization, Civil War, and the Future of the Region, p. 1599.

Library Journal, December, 2001, Marcia L. Sprules, review of The Rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan, p. 150.

Publishers Weekly, November 26, 2001, review of The Rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan, p. 52.

ONLINE

Institute for Global Engagement Web site,http://www.globalengagement.org/ (October 10, 2001), interview with Nojumi.

Newsday.com,http://www.newsday.com/ (November 7, 2001), Olivia Winslow, "Afghan Author Offers View of War: Says U.S. Needs to Stay Engaged in Region."*