The Afghanistan-Pakistan region has been an abiding obsession with observers of geopolitical developments, whether it be local skirmishes between ‘khels’ or the rivalries between the great powers. The mass of literature on the subject is extensive, but it can never be enough. To this body of knowledge, Anju Gupta’s Glocal Terror in South Asia is a fascinating addition – a work that any serious student of Afghanistan, Pakistan, South Asia studies and terrorism must take note of.Gupta has examined in depth the emergence of terrorism in South Asia, including the formation of the al Qaeda. Interestingly, she does not view terrorism merely as a series of isolated, violent acts carried out by non-state actors. Instead, she interprets it in the larger context of decades-long geopolitical machinations and interventions, both within and beyond the region, that have used – and continue to use – ideological radicalisation as a political instrument.Glocal Terror in South Asia- Tracing the Roots in Geopolitics and the Tragedy of Afghanistan, Anju Gupta, Simon and Schuster, 2026.Gupta provides a concise historical overview of Afghanistan, including its internal political and social dynamics. She traces the evolution of terrorism in South Asia from the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan till the present day. The author situates the decade-long Afghan jihad within the broader context of the US-USSR proxy conflict, rather than viewing it merely through the lens of the Soviet-Afghan war – a characterisation commonly advocated by many Western observers. In doing so, she brings out several critical dimensions of the proxy war whose persisting impact on South Asian security has often been overlooked in major works on the subject. One of Gupta’s central arguments is that terrorism in South Asia did not arise spontaneously, but evolved through a complex interplay of geopolitical strategies, ideological mobilisation, and external interventions. She examines the origins of the term ‘global jihad,’ a concept that has frequently been conflated with global terrorism. She assembles a range of evidence to argue that what initially began as a localised armed struggle by the Afghan mujahideen against Soviet forces gradually transformed into a transnational jihadist movement by external actors. Her book reveals how Arab allies of the United States facilitated the mobilisation of thousands of radicalised Arab volunteers to the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, legitimising their participation through a fatwa of ‘global jihad’ issued by the Palestinian-Jordanian cleric Abdullah Azzam.The author draws on credible sources to note that, during the initial three years, the fatwa failed to draw significant number of Arab volunteers – in fact fewer than 50 – to the conflict zone, partly because the notion of a ‘global jihad’ had no established basis in Islamic tradition, and partly because it was not endorsed by any prominent contemporary theologian nor any major Islamist movement such as the Muslim Brotherhood. It was in fact a small but influential group of Arabs who became the face of mobilisation of radical elements into the region, that eventually established the first iteration of al Qaeda in Peshawar. Such Arabs included Abdullah Azzam, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri.Gupta introduces the distinctive term ‘Glocal Terror’ for non-state actors who, while rooted in local contexts, remain embedded in transnational networks and simultaneously advance both local and global geo-political objectives, often driven by divergent inspirations. She has assembled extensive background material on nine such glocal actors who continue to serve as influential models for radicalisation and recruitment, not just across South Asia but also in wider international contexts. She traces, in considerable detail, the successive phases of the two-decade-long ‘War on Terror’ in the Af-Pak region and Iraq, highlighting how developments in Iraq significantly shaped the trajectory of the conflict in Afghanistan and Pakistan.One of the key strengths of Gupta’s Glocal Terror is its detailed examination of the two decades of the conflict in Afghanistan, tracing the transition from the fall of the Taliban 1.0 to the establishment of Taliban 2.0. The narrative places considerable emphasis on evidentiary substantiation – through names, dates, reports, and extensive references – which, while strengthening its credibility and demonstrating the depth of knowledge of the author, tend to make the text heavy for a lay reader at a few places. Policymakers, researchers and students of international relations, strategic security studies, terrorism, and South Asian politics, will, however, find this book highly engaging and an invaluable resource.Written in a no-nonsense style, Anju Gupta’s Glocal Terror in South Asia comes across as a work of serious scholarship. It combines strong academic rigour with a practitioner’s nuanced, experience-based understanding of the subject. All in all, it is a valuable addition to the body of literature on geopolitical dynamics of this region and beyond.K. C. Verma is former secretary, R&AW.