The Devil We Know: Dealing with the New Iranian SuperpowerCrown, 2008 M09 30 - 288 pages Over the past thirty years, while the United States has turned either a blind or dismissive eye, Iran has emerged as a nation every bit as capable of altering America’s destiny as traditional superpowers Russia and China. Indeed, one of this book’s central arguments is that, in some ways, Iran’s grip on America’s future is even tighter. As ex–CIA operative Robert Baer masterfully shows, Iran has maneuvered itself into the elite superpower ranks by exploiting Americans’ false perceptions of what Iran is—by letting us believe it is a country run by scowling religious fanatics, too preoccupied with theocratic jostling and terrorist agendas to strengthen its political and economic foundations. The reality is much more frightening—and yet contained in the potential catastrophe is an implicit political response that, if we’re bold enough to adopt it, could avert disaster. Baer’s on-the-ground sleuthing and interviews with key Middle East players—everyone from an Iranian ayatollah to the king of Bahrain to the head of Israel’s internal security—paint a picture of the centuries-old Shia nation that is starkly the opposite of the one normally drawn. For example, Iran’s hate-spouting President Ahmadinejad is by no means the true spokesman for Iranian foreign policy, nor is Iran making it the highest priority to become a nuclear player. Even so, Baer has discovered that Iran is currently engaged in a soft takeover of the Middle East, that the proxy method of war-making and co-option it perfected with Hezbollah in Lebanon is being exported throughout the region, that Iran now controls a significant portion of Iraq, that it is extending its influence over Jordan and Egypt, that the Arab Emirates and other Gulf States are being pulled into its sphere, and that it will shortly have a firm hold on the world’s oil spigot. By mixing anecdotes with information gleaned from clandestine sources, Baer superbly demonstrates that Iran, far from being a wild-eyed rogue state, is a rational actor—one skilled in the game of nations and so effective at thwarting perceived Western colonialism that even rival Sunnis relish fighting under its banner. For U.S. policy makers, the choices have narrowed: either cede the world’s most important energy corridors to a nation that can match us militarily with its asymmetric capabilities (which include the use of suicide bombers)—or deal with the devil we know. We might just find that in allying with Iran, we’ll have increased not just our own security but that of all Middle East nations.The alternative—to continue goading Iran into establishing hegemony over the Muslim world—is too chilling to contemplate. |
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Abu Wael Adham Afghanistan Ahmadinejad allies Amal American Amin Arafat army Ashura asked assassination attack Ayatollah Khomeini Baghdad Bahrain Basra Beirut bomb Chalabi clerics Da'wa empire exile fight fighters front Gaza guerrilla Gulf Arabs Hamas Hanadi Hassan Nasrallah Hezbollah hijacking Hormuz Imad Mughniyah invade invasion Iran Iran-Iraq Iran-Iraq War Iran's Iranian Iraq Iraq's Iraqi Kurdistan Iraqi Shia Islamic resistance Israel Israeli Jerusalem Force Karbala Khamenei Khomeini's revolution killed knew Koran Kurds leader Lebanese Lebanon look Maqdah martyrdom martyrs Middle East military million barrels missiles Mughniyah mullahs Muslim Brotherhood Najaf never nuclear Pakistan Palestinians percent Persian Gulf political president proxies Qaeda regime Revolutionary Guards Saddam Hussein Saudi Arabia Sheikh Hossein Shia Islam Sistani soldiers stop suicide bombers Sunni takfiris Syria tactics takfiris Taliban talk tanks Tehran terrorist there's tion told troops Turkey turned United victory wanted weapons West