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The Devil We Know: Dealing with the New Iranian Superpower | 
 enlarge | Author: Robert Baer
Publisher: Crown
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $14.45
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Avg. Customer Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 2015
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.2
ISBN: 0307408647
Dewey Decimal Number: 955.054
EAN: 9780307408648
ASIN: 0307408647
Publication Date: September 30, 2008
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Shipping: International shipping available
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Product Description
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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| Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
 Understanding Other Cultures November 5, 2008
This is an excellent book. It gives insight as to why certain people that we really don't understand act the way they do.
 Almost Great November 4, 2008
First let me say that I was really excited when I saw that Baer was writing on Iran. I was not dissapointed either. The problem is he seems to be too much in Iran's camp. One outright falsehood is his complete disregard for Al-Sistani: the Iraq shia religious leader, now is he as powerful as Iran? No, but he (according to Iraqis I have talked to while being stationed there) is not just sitting in his house in Najaf waiting to be taken out as Mr. Baer implies: according to my Iraq friends Maliki seeks him out.
Now about the negotiations, I agree we should talk to and even negotiate with Iran, but is it much better that they do terrorism for realist purposes as opposed to the Takfiri way of terrorism for pure chaos sake? And who in there right mind thinks the Shia could hold Saudia Arabia? Why because Hezbollah fought the Israelis? That seems to be his rationale, I know he knows the Shia are less than 20% of the Muslim population. Still I would recommend this book as something new and original to any one interested in foreign affairs.
Very Important for America to consider November 2, 2008
This guy knows what he is talking about and the books well written. I was fortunate to catch Robert Baer's interview with Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air" October 2 episode (available for download/podcast) and was astonished. I consider myself somewhere in the middle or higher than average as far as being informed about what goes on in this world, but found that interview astonishing!. I immediately had to run out and get the book. I've now read all three, and am better informed about what is REALLY going on in this country and the world- to the point of nausea, sometimes. Shame on us, shame on them. Our country's leaders have really let us down over the years. It's not too much to expect our leaders, and the leaders of this world, to act with honesty and integrety- rather than acting out of corrupted self-interest. Thank you, Mr. Baer, for sharing your experiences and insight. It's time for things to change- way past time.
Questions for Mr. Baer October 29, 2008
I couldn't find any contact information for Mr. Baer so I post my question here. I watched Mr. Baer's interview with Stephen Colbert
( [...] ) He says some strange and wrong things about Iran in this interview, such as Iran was involved in 9/11 and those Al-Qaida members were trained in Iran and USA should have attacked Iran instead of Iraq.
Then I watched his interview with BBC Hard Talk here: [...]
What he says in this more recent interview totally contradicts with what he says in interview with Stephen Colbert, He says that Iran has done nothing to USA and we should negotiate with them and Iran is helping USA in Iraq, etc.
I want to know what is the reason of this substantial change ? Are all CIA agents so ignorant and change their opinions so fast and substantial? If that's the case and CIA operations are based on the intelligence reports that people like Baer provide, then I am really sorry for CIA and USA. I am just wondering what was revealed to Mr. Baer between his interview with Stephen Colbert and the BBC Hard Talk interview that so fundamentally changed his view on Iran?
My email is payams79@yahoo.com in case Mr. Baer wants to reply to this.
 If you can't beat them, join them... October 27, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
This book has value as a reference to assist in the understanding of the players involved in the Middle East and how they interact/relate to each other. There is a lot of good information on how many of the players came to reach their current positions of power and how positions of power were lost. And the author is correct in that the West (and the US in particular) doesn't understand Iran and it's internal workings and the core differences between Shia and Sunni factions.
The problem is that the author doesn't seem to be learning from the lessons he presents in his own book. The conclusion he reaches is that we should abandon any Sunni relationship (Pakistan, Saudia Arabia, Oman, etc) we currently have in favor of aligning with Iran and the Shia. Why? Because at the moment, the author believes the Shia are 'winning' and it's best to align with the 'winner' who can consolidate and control the Middle East as our 'partner'.
This whole theory leads to disastrous results because, as the author points out repeatedly in the book, the Iranians have no interest in being subservient to the US (which a paranoid society such as Iran would view any partnership which wasn't completely dominated by the Iranian side) and in general can not be trusted due to the core fundamental belief that deception is just fine as long as its viewed as neccessary to defend Islam.
In the end it all boils down to a call for a complete compitulation to Iran's imperial desires under the guise of 'negotiation'. Negotiation with Iran would be a farse. Anyone engaging in it would be doing it for feel good political points, which in the end would lead the death of hundreds of thouands of people in countries we currently call our allies and ultimately to the deaths of US citizens once Iran consolidates it's power in the Middle East.
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