54 Minutes

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The New Great Game - Reaping the Whirlwind is a sequel to "The New Great Game - The River of Destiny".

Reaping the Whirlwind looks at post - Taliban Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan in terms of Islamic fundamentalism and the large natural gas reserves of Turkmenistan that must necessarily transit through Afghanistan to markets in India and elsewhere.

Till the late 19th century, the Great Game between Czarist Russia and Imperial Britain led to the formal demarcation of Afghanistan's borders with Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, this region was one landmass alternatively ruled from Kabul or Samarkand depending upon who was in power. After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the emergence of the Taliban in Afghanistan in 1996, these countries of the former Soviet Union were unsettled by Islamic fundamentalistwho led insurgencies that threatened their cosmopolitan and Slavic character.

With US action in Afghanistan as a result of Operation Enduring Freedom, these countries have a new lease on life, and so does Afghanistan. For the first time, there is a distinct possibility that Turkmen gas might find a transit route through Afghanistan and Tajikistan and Uzbekistan may be allowed to develop without the fear of further insurgencies. However, peace is only temporary, as Pakistan appears to be keeping the Taliban - Al Qaida cabal alive, augmented by the forces of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who was andallegedly is a Pakistani ISI (Inter Services Intelligence) proxy.

Reaping the Whirlwind explores whether the US Army along with the ISAF(International Security Assistance Force) will be able to drive out and deter the enemy from attacking Afghanistan, and whether Turkmen gas will find a transit route through Afghanistan.