Even if war is no longer imminent, tensions between the U.S. and Iran will continue for the foreseeable future. Only one or two Iranian missiles fired at passing tankers could block the flow of oil to the West. The author of The Twilight War is uniquely positioned to understand the conflict. David Crist’s father was commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East at the time of the Iranian hostage crisis. As an officer in the marines, the younger Crist served in both Persian Gulf wars, earned a doctorate in Middle East history and is highly critical of George Bush’s carelessly planned and destabilizing invasion of Iran’s neighbor, Iraq. One of Crist’s insights is that the U.S. government and the Iranian regime fail to understand each other politically and culturally—a pressing problem even before a reality TV star assumed control over the White House. The Twilight War is out now in paperback.
