How do I see the video/hear the audio? There are two ways to experience the multimedia content on this site:
What is a podcast? Podcasting is a method of distributing multimedia content over the web. When you use a program called a "podcatcher" to subscribe to a podcast, the podcatcher will periodically check to see if new content (in this case, audio or video files) has been added to the podcast. If new content is available, the podcatcher will automatically download the new file(s) for you, making them available to play on your computer, iPod, or other digital media device.
What do these buttons mean?
will take you to a page that will allow you to subscribe via one of several different podcatchers. You can also right-click (control-click for Mac) and copy the address into the podcatcher of your choice.
will allow you to subscribe to the podcast via the iTunes music store, if that is your preferred podcatcher. It's free to subscribe and download podcasts from iTunes, but you have to have iTunes installed on your computer (download it now).
Still confused? The University has posted information about RSS, the technology behind podcasting as well as information about subscribing to RSS feeds. If you want to learn more, you can also read Wikipedia's article on podcasting.
More questions? Please e-mail chiasmos@uchicago.edu.
"Descent into Chaos: The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia"
June 10, 2008
A talk by Ahmed Rashid, author and journalist based in Lahore, Pakistan.
The growing instability and resurgence of Islamic extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan pose a great threat to U.S. interests and global security. In his new book, Descent into Chaos, Ahmed Rashid examines the rising insurgency, booming opium trade, and weak governance in Afghanistan, concluding that U.S. strategy in the region has been a complete failure.
Ahmed Rashid is a Pakistani journalist based in Lahore. He was the Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review, for 22 years until the magazine was recently closed down. He presently writes for the Daily Telegraph, London, the International Herald Tribune, the New York Review of Books, BBC Online, The Wall Street Journal, The Nation, and academic and foreign affairs journals. He appears regularly on international TV and radio such as CNN and BBC World Service. He is the author of three books, including the best sellers Taliban and most recently Jihad.
From the World Beyond the Headlines Series.