Ilan Berman

Today, more than four decades after its founding, the Islamic Republic of Iran is arguably at the weakest point in its history. At home, deteriorating domestic conditions, a profoundly disaffected population, and an increasingly unpopular official ideology have helped to galvanize opposition to the country's ruling clerical regime. Meanwhile, mounting economic and political pressure from the United States have taken aim at the country's economy and its malign regional behavior. The end result of this confluence of forces could very well be a new political upheaval within the country. The Fight for Iran is an in-depth look at that potential for change, as well as at the beliefs, ideas and values of the different factions that now exist within the Iranian opposition. It represents a chronicle of what, forty-one years after the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's Islamic Revolution, has become a profound political struggle for the soul of one of the Middle East's most important nations.

The 2016 elections in the United States exposed a massive campaign of subversion and interference carried out by Russia and aimed at undermining the inner workings of American democracy. But that disinformation offensive represents just one part of a larger challenge now confronting the United States - the weaponization of news and views, both real and fabricated, by repressive regimes and radical non-state actors in order to advance their strategic objectives. In this volume, leading scholars and experts chart the rise of this "authoritarian media" phenomenon and explore its implications for U. S. foreign policy and America's standing in the world.

Are we on the cusp of detente with Iran? Conventional wisdom certainly seems to believe so. Since the start of diplomacy between the Islamic Republic and the P5+1 powers (the United States, France, England, Russia, China, Germany) in November 2013, hopes have been running high for a historic reconciliation of Iran's clerical regime with the West. Yet there is ample reason for skepticism that the United States and its allies can truly curb Iran's nuclear ambitions by diplomatic means. Moreover, the West's current focus on Iran's nuclear program is deeply dangerous insofar as it fails to recognize let alone address Iran's other international activities or its foreign policy aims. Those objectives are global, and they continue to grow in scope and menace. In this sobering book, Ilan Berman illuminates the multiple dimensions of the Iranian threat and exposes the perils of lodging confidence in diplomacy with the Islamic Republic.

Are we on the cusp of detente with Iran? Conventional wisdom certainly seems to believe so. In the aftermath of the interim nuclear deal struck in November 2013 between the Islamic Republic and the P5+1 powers (the United States, France, England, Russia, China and Germany), hopes are now running high for a historic reconciliation between Iran's clerical regime and the West. Yet there is ample reason for skepticism that the United States and Europe can truly curb Iran's nuclear ambitions by diplomatic means. Moreover, the current focus on Iran's nuclear program not he part of the Western governments is deeply dangerous, because it fails to recognize--let alone address--Iran's other international activities, or its foreign policy ambitions. Those objectives reveals Ilan Berman, are global in scope, and they are growing. Iran's Deadly Ambition explains how America's retraction from the Middle East has created significant breathing room for an Iranian regime that not long ago was on the political ropes. Economically, the Islamic Republic is "out of the box" that was erected over the past decade-and-a-half by Western sanctions, thanks to the "interim" nuclear deal. As a result, Iran's leaders are again thinking big about their country and its place in the world. America faces stark choices: to confront Iran's nuclear ambitions and global activities, or to accept and accommodate the region's newest hegemon, with all that that portends for American security and the safety of its allies.

Winning the Long War is a trenchant examination of the past seven years of the Global War on Terror, the future battlegrounds that will confront the United States in the struggle against radical Islam in the years ahead, and how America can reclaim the initiative in what has become the defining struggle of the twenty-first century. Middle East expert Ilan Berman offers new thinking on counterterrorism strategy and provides the new administration with ways to close the gaps in current American counterterrorism strategy. While there are many books about fighting terrorism, none offer Berman's approach of integrating diplomatic, legal, economic, military, and theoretical strategies into a comprehensive national security action plan. Using cutting edge analysis of current terrorism trends, Winning the Long War identifies three central failings that triggered the West's retreat and radical Islam's simultaneous advance: the failure to properly define the enemy, the inability to dominate the battlefields, and the inability to calibrate counterterrorism strategies. Demonstrating the need for more creative thinking about the nature of the conflicts in which the West now finds itself, this book lays out the steps that must be taken to win the long war.