Glocal Terror in South Asia is a well-researched, incisive book on strategic affairs that investigates the geopolitical foundations of terrorism in South Asia, with Afghanistan serving as the region’s pivotal fault line.

The book is not a conventional study of non-state actors and their escapades. It positions terrorism within the larger interplay of global power politics, regional rivalries, ideological currents, and historical disruptions that have shaped South Asia’s security environment for decades. Gupta provides a layered understanding of the enduring influence of geopolitics on both regional stability and wider global power play.

A unique perspective

The author carefully charts the evolution of terrorism in South Asia, beginning with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and extending to the turbulent events of 2025, marked by two short but significant conflicts — the India-Pakistan and Afghanistan-Pakistan wars. Distinctively, the book approaches these developments entirely from a South Asian perspective, giving it a rare and original voice that sets it apart from other works on the subject.

Gupta begins with a concise historical overview of Afghanistan, setting the stage for the book’s 10 chapters by underscoring the strategic importance of the Afghanistan-Pakistan region as a persistent arena of geopolitical rivalry long before the Soviet invasion of 1979.

The USSR-U.S. proxy war

She goes further by examining the internal political and ideological currents within West Asia in the decades preceding the Soviet invasion, particularly the emergence of radical movements that increasingly challenged entrenched dynastic and authoritarian regimes. These developments, as the book argues, formed the underlying context for what later unfolded during the decade-long USSR-U.S. proxy war in Afghanistan.

While many Western commentators have framed the conflict as the ‘Soviet-Afghan War,’ Gupta deliberately characterises it as a USSR-U.S. proxy war, thereby emphasising the broader geopolitical struggle that shaped its course and serious consequences. One of the book’s most significant contributions lies in its exploration of the war’s enduring aftermath — most notably the rise of al Qaeda and the proliferation of extremist and terrorist groups across the region making a common cause with al Qaeda.

The book introduces the novel idea of ‘Glocal Terror’ to describe non-state actors who are rooted in local environments, but are also connected to broader transnational networks, pursuing overlapping local and global goals shaped by varied political, ideological, and strategic drivers. Such actors worked in tandem with global actors pursuing dual agendas, a fact largely absent in most studies on the subject.

Through in-depth research, Gupta traces the paths of nine ‘glocal’ actors of South Asia — including Ramzi Yousef, Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, David Headley, and Hafiz Saeed — showing how their impact reached far beyond their immediate surroundings and helped shape lasting narratives of radicalisation and recruitment. In doing so, the book argues that such individuals are the ‘poster boys’ of South Asia and hence, practical reference points for extremist mobilisation within the region and beyond. 

Pakistan’s failed attempt

The book devotes a chapter to Kashmir titled ‘Failed Kashmir Jihad: Cross Border Terrorism,’ where the author compiles evidence to argue that Pakistan attempted, but ultimately failed, to ignite an Afghan-style jihad in Kashmir or redirect local separatist movements towards a broader jihadist framework.

According to her analysis, Pakistan then shifted to cross-border terrorism in Kashmir and the hinterland, deploying trained cadres from proxy groups formed during the Afghan jihad. These groups maintained close ties with al Qaeda, which supported them with resources, but did not deploy its senior leadership to Kashmir. Gupta further contends that Kashmir remained largely unfamiliar terrain for Arab fighters, and Pakistan was unable to move significant numbers of them from Peshawar-based camps into Kashmir.

Shaped by geopolitics

The book presents a distinctive argument that South Asia-based terrorist groups, both directly and indirectly, have been shaped by evolving geopolitical priorities across different historical periods. It suggests, for instance, that the 1980s Afghan jihad against the Soviet Union emerged from a convergence of interests between the U.S., Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and allies. Many of the Afghan, Pakistani and Arab mujahideen initially mobilised for this specific objective — resisting Soviet forces — subsequently transformed into groups such as al Qaeda, Pakistan-based Salafi and Harkat groups as well as wider jihadist networks with new and distinct agendas on their own.

The book further provides example of the argument by demonstrating how Pakistan-supported groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed became embedded in shifting regional strategies related to Kashmir, internal militant dynamics in Pakistan, and the post-9/11 global war on terror in the region and beyond.

Gupta’s strong focus on meticulous academic research and deep understanding of the subject combine to makes it a unique book for anyone who wants to dive deep into a complex subject. Security professionals, researchers, students, and readers interested in international relations, strategic security studies, terrorism, South Asian politics or contemporary history will find the book especially engaging and a very valuable resource.

The reviewer is former Director, Intelligence Bureau.

Glocal Terror in South Asia: Tracing the Roots in Geopolitics and the Tragedy of Afghanistan

Anju Gupta

Simon & Schuster

₹699