Category Archives: Middle East
As anyone who has opened a newspaper or watched the news over the past few years knows, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been pursuing nuclear capability. Iran’s government insists its only goal is to develop nuclear power plants that would not threaten anyone. The United Nations, though, is concerned Iran might instead covet nuclear weapons. The United States is convinced that is the case. In any event, for an aggressive and fanatical theocracy such as Iran to research nuclear … Continue reading
“I profess myself a Mazda-worshipper, a Zoroastrian, having vowed it and professed it. I pledge myself to the well-thought thought, I pledge myself to the well-spoken word, [and] I pledge myself to the well-done action.”1 This oath to believe in God and act according to his principles comes from Zoroastrian scripture, a representative of the millennia-old literature of Persia. Despite its age, scholars have not examined Persian literature to any great degree. Many of its few extant remains lay spread … Continue reading
Dec. 31, 2011, edit: How amazing the effect the passing of a decade can have on one’s perspective. While I still stand by the thesis we are not in a “clash of civilizations” with the Muslim world, I of course must vacate the propositions that American interventions have been warmly greeted in targeted countries. And I believe American foreign interventionism clearly does inspire loathing of the United States that sometimes ignites terrorist ambitions; I would strongly dismiss the Bush explanation were … Continue reading
