The Complete Infidel’s Guide To Iran, by Robert Spencer

In examining a book like this, one has to think of the time it was made and the purpose it was made for. Some books are timeless classics which can be enjoyed long after they were written, other books have no time in which they are worth reading. This is a book that was written for the moment–specifically, for the election of 2016–for an audience of people who were highly critical of the Iran peace deal that was made in the latter days of the Obama administration, and the book sought to remind its readers that the Islamic Republic of Iran was a far more dangerous threat to American and to Americans than the trendy ISIS, which has largely at this date faded (fortunately) into the dustbin of history along with the historical ruins it has similarly demolished. There are some ways that the book works, in that it demonstrates the fickleness and weakness of American foreign trade when it is conducted by the Democratic Party, the greater success that comes from negotiating through strength while also remaining cautious about ruinous wars, but in many ways this book is useful mainly as a time capsule of a very in-the-moment political tactic and not as a lasting and long-term book that can be wholeheartedly enjoyed for the long haul.

This book is about 300 pages long and is divided into ten chapters. After a highly selective timeline of Iranian history that leaves out an awful lot, and a short introduction, the author begins with a chapter of negative comments about the 2015 Iran nuclear deal (1). This is followed by the author’s slightly overheated rhetoric about supposed plans on the part of Iran to conquer the world for Shi’ite Islam (2). After this comes a chapter about Iran’s admittedly irresponsible support of any movement that is populist, Islamic, and anti-American (3). There is a chapter about Iran’s all-consuming hatred of Israel (4), a pretty common phenomenon in Islamic polities and populaces. This is followed by a chapter on Persia’s status as a great world civilization (5), one of the better chapters in the book, it must be admitted. After this comes a chapter on the Iranian Revolution (6), and then a discussion of the history of division and conflict between Sunni and Shi’ite within Islam, despite their common goals of jihad (7). A chapter that seeks to expose the contradictions of life within the Islamic Republic, and the way that pre-Islamic festivals remain popular even if sometimes covertly so, then follows (8). The author gives a critical discussion of the Green Revolution of 2009 and the nature of Iranian protests against the corruption of the current regime (9). The book then ends with a call for strong diplomacy on the part of the United States (10), after which there are acknowledgements, notes, and an index.

Despite my mixed feelings about the book, there are still some parts of this book that are enjoyable, including the author’s comical discussions about efforts on the efforts of Iranian police to arrest supposedly Zionist squirrels and pigeons. There are also surprisingly timely bits like the author’s commentary on the way that Democrats at least pay lip service to the peaceful protest of fraudulent elections abroad but do not have the same tolerance for such behavior at home. The book also has some insights on the different levels of religious leadership within Iranian society, which is enjoyable to read. There are some essential flaws that the work has as a work of critique of Iranian society and its political order. Given the way that the author criticizes the Iranian state (and its people) for persistent taqiyya, the fact that the author places such a high degree of reliance on such deceptive statements when he can use it to show anti-Israel or anti-American rhetoric that is likely meant for domestic consumption among the political elite as a way of clubbing political opponents in the United States appears disingenuous, although the alliance between Marxism and radical Islam that one found in the Iranian Revolution of 1979 is something that one can also find in contemporary American politics on the left as well as in Hamas and in the support of Hamas by misguided and politically naive leftist Americans and Europeans in general, which bodes poorly for the well-being of the West. This could have been a far better book than it was, if the author had spent more time trying to explain Iran rather than score cheap and easy political points against obviously incompetent American politicians of the left.