Product Description

Today, Iran constitutes the single greatest challenge to the United States and the War on Terror. In the Persian Gulf and Central Asia, Iranian policymakers are busy cobbling together alliances intended to marginalize the United States and its Coalition allies. Iran remains the world's most active sponsor of terrorism, fueling the activities of Hezbollah, al-Qaeda, and insurgents in Iraq. And, through its nuclear advances, Iran is gaining the capability to catastrophically alter the geopolitical balance of power far beyond its immediate neighborhood. As evidence of this threat mounts, one thing remains crystal clear to Ilan Berman: Washington is woefully unprepared to deal with this mounting peril. Berman's approach is hard-hitting, provocative and unflinchingly critical. Yet he takes the exploration of Iran's menace one step further, providing what has been missing so far in the foreign policy discourse regarding Iran -- practical policy prescriptions designed to contain Iran's strategic ambitions.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #600210 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-25
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 240 pages

About the Author
Ilan Berman is one of the rising stars of American foreign policy. As Vice President for Policy of the Washington-based American Foreign Policy Council, he is a frequent guest on radio and television. An expert on regional security in the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Russian Federation, he has consulted for both the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Department of Defense, and provided assistance on foreign policy and national security issues to a range of governmental agencies and congressional offices. His writings on international security and American foreign policy have appeared in such influential publications as The National Interest, the International Herald Tribune, and the Financial Times, among others.

Mr. Berman is Adjunct Professor for International Law and Global Security at the National Defense University in Washington, DC. He also serves as a member of the reconstituted Committee on the Present Danger, and as Editor of the Journal of International Security Affairs.

Customer Reviews

Fearmongering as usual
This book is exactly what you'd expect coming from the NeoCon Right: Iran is big and bad, and coming to getcha! Watch out! Hordes of crazed Islamofascist terrorists are hiding under your bed! Gotta bomb 'em now before its too late! We can't wait for the mushroom cloud! etc etc.

Ho hum.

Read Elsewhere to Learn About Iran and the U.S.
After reading perhaps half a dozen books on the history of Iran and Iranian-U.S. relations, I would rate this book at the absolute bottom. I knew I was in for a rough ride when the author effusively praises Bush's "Preemptive Doctrine" as a "groundbreaking new policy" without the slightist consideration of what it would mean for the world if all countries felt free to attack at will any other country they imagine MIGHT attack them.

You will not find a balanced or even rational approach to the topic here. The book is a primitive, ahistorical attack piece written by a Superhawk who is attempting to set up the U.S. to do Israel's dirty work in the region. Proof by assertion and undocumented opinion are the primary tools of this author's trade. Repeat until you believe it: Iran Bad, U.S. Good.

Scott Ritter's "Target Iran - the Truth About the White House's Plans for Regime Change" and Ali Ansari's "Confronting Iran: the failure of American foreign policy and the next great crisis in the Middle East" both give the reader a more balanced and informed view of the complexities of Iranian-U.S. tensions.

If you hate Christendom, believe the first few reviewers
If not, discard their obvious racism toward Jews and hatred for the country and culture which has (somewhat foolishly?) taken them in. They want to see America at the mercy of the sword of Islam--a dubious mercy, by all accounts.

I don't and I'll bet you don't either.