Benazir Bhutto – författare

Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan in October 2007, after eight years of exile, hopeful that she could be a catalyst for change. Upon a tumultuous reception, she survived a suicide-bomb attack that killed nearly two hundred of her countrymen. But she continued to forge ahead, with more courage and conviction than ever, since she knew that time was running out—for the future of her nation, and for her life.In Reconciliation, Bhutto recounts in gripping detail her final months in Pakistan and offers a bold new agenda for how to stem the tide of Islamic radicalism and to rediscover the values of tolerance and justice that lie at the heart of her religion. With extremist Islam on the rise throughout the world, the peaceful, pluralistic message of Islam has been exploited and manipulated by fanatics. Bhutto persuasively argues that America and Britain are fueling this turn toward radicalization by supporting groups that serve only short-term interests. She believed that by enabling dictators, the West was actually contributing to the frustration and extremism that lead to terrorism. With her experience governing Pakistan and living and studying in the West, Benazir Bhutto was versed in the complexities of the conflict from both sides. She was a renaissance woman who offered a way out.In this riveting and deeply insightful book, Bhutto explores the complicated history between the Middle East and the West. She traces the roots of international terrorism across the world, including American support for Pakistani general Zia-ul-Haq, who destroyed political parties, eliminated an independent judiciary, marginalized NGOs, suspended the protection of human rights, and aligned Pakistani intelligence agencies with the most radical elements of the Afghan mujahideen. She speaks out not just to the West, but to the Muslims across the globe who are at a crossroads between the past and the future, between education and ignorance, between peace and terrorism, and between dictatorship and democracy. Democracy and Islam are not incompatible, and the clash between Islam and the West is not inevitable. Bhutto presents an image of modern Islam that defies the negative caricatures often seen in the West. After reading this book, it will become even clearer what the world has lost by her assassination.

Daughter of Destiny, the autobiography of Benazir Bhutto, is a historical document of uncommon passion and courage, the dramatic story of a brilliant, beautiful woman whose life was, up to her tragic assassination in 2007, inexorably tied to her nation''s tumultuous history. Bhutto writes of growing up in a family of legendary wealth and near-mythic status, a family whose rich heritage survives in tales still passed from generation to generation. She describes her journey from this protected world onto the volatile stage of international politics through her education at Radcliffe and Oxford, the sudden coup that plunged her family into a prolonged nightmare of threats and torture, her father''s assassination by General Zia ul-Haq in 1979, and her grueling experience as a political prisoner in solitary confinement.With candor and courage, Benazir Bhutto recounts her triumphant political rise from her return to Pakistan from exile in 1986 through the extraordinary events of 1988: the mysterious death of Zia; her party''s long struggle to ensure free elections; and finally, the stunning mandate that propelled her overnight into the ranks of the world''s most powerful, influential leaders.

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, the chairperson of the Pakistan People''s Party, was seen as vital to that country''s future. In exile for years, in late 2007 she felt the time had come to actively re-engage and to return to the country she loved. Part of that process was a clear-eyed assessment of where Pakistan was, and of the nature of its relationship with the West, with Islam, and with extremism. In this important new book, completed just days before her assassination, Ms Bhutto demonstrats that extremism is not inherent to Islam, but that various factors, including some policies of the West, have empowered Islamic fundamentalists and are responsible for the current battle for the hearts, minds and bodies of the Umma(the Islamic nation around the world). RECONCILIATION was her compelling and convincing prescription for the country at the heart of the so-called ''clash of civilizations''. It argues that democracy, economic development, moderation and modernity are the greatest threats to international terrorism. She pledged to work with the United States and the West to ensure that Pakistan ceased to be the petri dish of international radicals, and to re-establish its bona fidesas a realistic and effective moderate alternative for one billion Muslims around the world.

Beautiful and charismatic, the daughter of one of Pakistan''s most popular leaders -- Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, hanged by General Zia in 1979 -- Benazir Bhutto is not only the first woman to lead a post-colonial Muslim state, she achieved a status approaching that of a royal princess, only to be stripped of her power in another example of the bitter political in-fighting that has riven her country. From her upbringing in one of Pakistan''s richest families, the shock of the contrast of her Harvard and Oxford education, and subsequent politicisation and arrest after her father''s death, Bhutto''s life has been full of drama. Her riveting autobiography, first published in 1988 and now updated to cover her own activities since then and how her country has changed since being thrust into the international limelight after 9/11, is an inspiring tale of strength, dedication and courage in the face of adversity.