The Persian Puzzle [Archive]

Mycroft

31st January 2006, 10:39 AM

I figured with Iran being such a hot topic in the news, I'd advance a book from my own personal reading list. Kenneth Pollack is a respected authority on Iran, and this book gets good reviews.

BPSCG

2nd February 2006, 06:55 PM

I figured with Iran being such a hot topic in the news, I'd advance a book from my own personal reading list. Kenneth Pollack is a respected authority on Iran, and this book gets good reviews.Can you give us some background?

Mycroft

2nd February 2006, 10:23 PM

Kenneth Pollack is a former director for Gulf affairs at the National Security Council as well as a military analyst for the CIA. Several years ago he wrote ”The Threatening Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq” and is regarded as having been influential in creating support for that war. I saw an interview with him sometime about a year ago, and have been meaning to read the book since.

I just barely started it, having only read what can be read on a 45 minute treadmill session at the gym, but what I've read so far is accurate and well written. My understanding is that while he was hawkish on Iraq, he supports a much more tempered response to Iran.

BigHeathenMike

23rd February 2006, 07:58 PM

I just started this book myself and it looks good so far. I've only scratched the surface of Iranian history, but learning about the country (and what they teach themselves as history) will hopefully lead to some insights.

Mycroft

23rd February 2006, 11:16 PM