Different perspective
The Devil We Know is not an academic read with lots of references and archived quotes. It comes from an experiential viewpoint and is strong on anecdotal descriptions and interviews with many actors throughout the Middle East. Any anecdotal work could pose some questions on authenticity and value as it is easy to choose anecdotes and tales, however much they may be true, to satisfy one's point of view. Baer's writing, however, comes across as solidly centred, and the few 'Americanisms' that do creep in can be ignored in favour of the general flavour of the work, with one of his first solutions, an unnumbered one, being that "We [the U.S.] just have to overcome our prejudices rooted in the past."
For the United States "It's time not to surrender, but rather to deal. America can accommodate many parts of Iran's quest for empire without ceding any of its core vital national interests." Previously stated in the text and implicit throughout is that the U.S. must deal if it is to avoid consequences that can only be negative into a long drawn out unprosperous future. Its vital interests are oil and containment of Russia and China as re-emerging powers, competitors within the global rush for resources and markets of all kinds.
Future unknown
Iran, it appears, has become the 'spoiler', a rising power, controlling much of Iraq and Damascus by proxy, supporting yet recognizing the independent power of Hezbollah, bargaining and trading with Russia and China for many items from natural resources through nuclear facilities on into modern sophisticated armaments that it has learned to use asymmetrically against the dominance of absolute western military power. It is also a player on the eastern boundary, with its own serious concerns about what occurs in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The U.S. must learn to deal with them in serious negotiations rather than through the futile and costly on going threat of war. The Obama administration has the mandate and the rhetoric to start the process of working with Iran for its own good, rather than continuing to bluster and push and eventually stumble into a broader more vicious war with even larger negative consequences on the world and the United States itself.
Iran is ready to negotiate, and is in a position of regional strength. As per Baer, the United States needs to realize this or face a very uncertain future at home and abroad. The Devil We Know is an interesting read, accessible to most readers, non-academic and rationally written, a good place to start with a new understanding of what makes Iran work.
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