In 51st position in Foreign Policy’s ranking of the one hundred “global thinkers” is Ahmed Rashid, with the explanation that emphasises, “his prophetic writing about the global perils of South Asia.” A Pakistani journalist, Rashid is probably the greatest scholar on the people and the conflicts in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as being the expert par excellence on Central Asia. For decades Rashid has been attempting to report what is happening in those lands, writing for authoritative papers such as the Daily Telegraph, the International Herald Tribune, the New York Review of Books, BBC Online and The Washington Post. His best sellers, Taliban and Descent into Chaos, are documented sources of information and provide an interpretation for understanding countries ruled by dictators, rich in gas and oil and the centre of operations for coalitions of Islamic militants. In this interview Ahmed Rashid explains Central Asia’s problems and opportunities.