Ahmed Rashid is a Pakistani journalist and best-selling author. Born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, he attended several colleges in Lahore and London during the late 1960s.

After graduating, Rashid spent ten years in the hills of Balochistan before turning his attention to writing about his homeland. He then became the author of several books, including 1994’s The Resurgence of Central Asia: Islam or Nationalism, 2002’s Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia and 2013’s Pakistan on the Brink: The Future of America, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

Rashid’s 2000 book, Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia, was a New York Times bestseller for five weeks, translated into 22 languages, and has sold 1.5 million copies since the September 11, 2001, attacks. The book was used extensively by American analysts in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

Ahmed has been the Daily Telegraph’s Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia Correspondent and a Far Eastern Economic Review correspondent for over twenty years. He has also written for The Wall Street Journal, The Nation, Daily Times Pakistan, and various academic journals. He has appeared on international TV and radio networks such as CNN, BBC World, and many other Pakistani TV channels.

Diplomats in Islamabad and Kabul, policymakers in NATO capitals, and Washington often seek his advice.