An insider's account from the heart of the War on Terror. Shaukat Aziz left a thirty-year career as a senior Citibank executive to join a military regime in Pakistan, following a coup in 1999. Two years later, 9/11 made Pakistan a vital strategic ally in the War on Terror. This is an insider's account of what it was like to hold high office in a nuclear power in one of the most challenging parts of the world.First as finance minister, then prime minister, Aziz steered a major economic turnaround and negotiated Pakistan's aid package with the United States. He survived a suicide bombing by Al Qaeda, which drove him to engage in the fight against global terrorism.Aziz draws on his first-hand experiences in office, as well as hundreds of hours of interviews with the global players who shaped our world. From Donald Rumsfeld to General James Jones to Tony Blair, they give their take on the policy decisions of their time and the geopolitical environment today.From Banking to the Thorny World of Politics analyses Islamabad's relationship with Washington, its dealings with Afghanistan, Benazir Bhutto's fateful comeback, the attempted Kashmir peace settlement - and what Pakistan really knew about Osama Bin Laden's whereabouts.