The end of the great game : [Book] : was Pakistan the real US target? a comprehensive narrative of the US war in Afghanistan and relationship to Middle East oil / Hasan M. Sadiq.

The End of the Great Game is a narrative of geopolitics taking place in South Asia. This is a region that is intimately related to the Middle East and its vast oil reserves. Since the end of World War II major powers of the world such as Great Britain, the Soviet Union and the US have jockeyed for position to either control these resources or prevent the opposing power from gaining control over it. This resulted in the Cold War which lasted for almost five decades. Since the first Gulf War of 1991 between the US and Iraq a new alliance between China, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan has emerged in this region. This alliance is gradually neutralizing American influence to the point that there is no longer a single power that dominates this region as the US once did. It is shown that pre 9/11 Pakistan was getting significant military and economic help from China and Saudi Arabia, fueling Pakistan's military expansion. To safeguard their own interests these countries were gradually putting Pakistan in position to become the military arm of the gulf countries on which China's energy needs also depend. Through his research Hasan Sadiq makes a compelling argument that one of the main goal's of the US war in Afghanistan, which has now lasted for over 14 years, was to degrade Pakistan's expanding nuclear program, which otherwise has the potential to threaten US hegemony over this vital energy rich region of the world. To prevent this from taking place, the US needed a plan and allies in the region to bring Pakistan's military expansion under control. It is shown that India became a willing partner. Though US-Indo plans in Afghanistan have not succeeded, in what has become America's longest war in its history, the strategic goals of these two nations continue.

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