Announcing a new book on Iran and Islam by John J. Xenakis
Book Announcement: World View: Iran’s Struggle for Supremacy
Subtitle: Tehran’s Obsession to Redraw the Map of the Middle East
Book Announcement: World View: Iran’s Struggle for Supremacy, by John J. Xenakis
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Book Description
Iran wants to be the master of the Mideast. It is threatening war with Saudi Arabia. It is supporting wars in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. It is supporting the Lebanon terror army Hezbollah to wage war in Syria and to attack and eliminate Israel, and to attack the United States. This book describes how a former United States ally has turned into a radical, corrupt, theological regime threatening the entire region.
This book also addresses the controversies in Islam itself, including the Sunni-Shia split, the authenticity of the Koran and Sharia Law, polygamy and pedophilia in Islam, and whether the Koran commands all Muslims to kill all non-Muslims.
About the author: John J. Xenakis is a historian, journalist, and analyst and a developer of generational theory, who has written prolifically on geopolitical events, historical analysis, and technology.
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Book Contents – More Information
Most people in the West have little understanding of Islam and Iran, even though both of these subjects are part of major news stories almost every day.
The author, John J. Xenakis, has written thousands of articles on Iran and Islam over two decades and has written a book that provides, for the serious reader, a serious, balanced, respectful history of Islam and Iran.
Here are some of the topics covered in this book:
- Does the Koran command Muslims to kill all non-Muslims?
- Are Muslim jihadists at war with Christians and Jews?
- Why is there a split between Sunni and Shia Muslims, and what is its importance today?
- What is Shia theology, how was it redefined by Iran’s Supreme Leader, and how is Iran’s Supreme Leader violating it?
- What is the importance of ancient Persian empires and Zoroastrianism to Iran today?
- How is today’s Iran, recognized as one of the most corrupt governments in the world, controlled by a Constitution with no checks and balances?
- Why is there a big generational split in Iran?
- How does the Koran compare to the Bible?
- What kind of “regime change” does Iran need to restore the country’s former glory?
Furthermore, this book was written in a respectful, balanced, non-ideological way that will be accessible to all points of view.
Some people may wonder whether it is possible or “appropriate” for a non-Muslim to write a book on Islam and Iran. The opposite may be true. A Muslim author might be able to write a balanced treatment of Islam, but will suffer from the handicap that people within his own religion or sect may criticize him if he or she is totally non-ideological, and particularly if he or she discusses the very real controversies within Islam itself, such as the validity of the Koran and Hadith, polygamy and pedophilia in Islam, and whether the Koran commands all Muslims to kill all non-Muslims.
The author is able to describe Islam and Iran in a respectful, balanced, non-ideological way, but also describing the controversies within Islam that Muslims themselves feel obligated to avoid mentioning.
The author admits that he is biased against the current leadership in Iran. An American cannot be indifferent to a leadership whose security forces massacre, jail, rape, and torture on peacefully protesting college students. And, of course, the book is also biased against al-Qaeda, ISIS, and other jihadist groups committing terror acts.
The ordering of the sections of this book is like “peeling an onion,” starting with the most accessible political news about Iran over the last 20 years, and then proceeding step by step to the core of Iran’s Shia Islam theology. A summary is as follows:
- Internal political conflicts in Iran, since the student riots beginning in 1999 that challenged the entire legitimacy of the 1979 Great Islamic Revolution.
- A political history of Iran from the 1800s to the present, including the border wars with Britain and Russia, the Tobacco Revolt and Constitutional Revolution, the White Revolution and the Islamic Revolution. The book shows how each of these events flowed into the next one as new generations of Persians and Iranians grew up and replaced older generations.
- The great empires of Persian history, which still fill modern Iranians with pride even today.
- The conquest of Persia by Mohammed and the Islamic Arabs, and the Sunni-Shia split.
- Shia Islam’s twelve infallible Imams, and development of Shia Islam Theology by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, through the “Guardianship of the Jurist.” This involves a retelling of the history of Iran from 1800s to the present, but a theological history rather than a political history. This is the core of the onion, after all the layers have been peeled off.
- The future of Iran – the selection of a new Supreme Leader and the inevitable regime change.
By the time we reach the end, we will have circled back to the beginning, with what is hopefully a complete understanding of Iran today.
This book also draws on the methodologies provided by advanced generational theory as developed for 15 years on the GenerationalDynamics.com website. These methodologies explain, for example, why there is a big generational split today between Iran’s old government leaders versus young people, and they explain such things as the transition from Iran’s Constitutional Revolution in 1905-09 to Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979.
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Iran, Iran’s Struggle for Supremacy
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