The essays' topics include guerrilla warfare, the Cold War, the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, and the nuclear tests carried out by India and Pakistan.

[3] The book received a positive review from Stuart Schaar, who wrote that the section "Colonization in the Era of Decolonization" "pulls no punches.

Eqbal had the rare ability to honestly criticize the faults of the movements to which he was attached [...] Selected Writings contains most of his important work and gives a good sense of his global reach and his emphasis on evaluating events in terms of what they meant for victims.

"[4] Keally McBride said that "Counterinsurgency" and "How to Tell When the Rebels Have Won" (the first and third essays in part one) "provide more insight into the current dilemmas of U.S. missions in Afghanistan, Iraq, and potential developments in Iran and North Korea than any other texts I have ever encountered.

"[3] Amitava Kumar found some aspects of Ahmad's analysis less relevant in the 21st century, saying that American and Israeli policies don't explain radical Islam co-opting the anti-imperial struggle and the failure of "Third World Marxism".