Dangerous Illusions--Shadow World by Robert Chandler
Book Review, Copyright © 2008, William Kevin Stoos
"This is the way the country ends'not with a bang but a whimper." Had T.S. Eliot read Shadow World, he might well have written this tag line for Robert Chandler's comprehensive, thought-provoking expose of the three major threats facing the American Republic which Chandler so masterfully documents.
While Americans live comfortable lives insulated partly by luck, the vigilance of our law enforcement authorities, and the sacrifice of our soldiers engaging enemies in foreign lands, forces seen and unseen are mounting against our country. Some are external; some internal, but all are engaged in a war against our country, its core values and our way of life. While we are captivated by Dancing with the Stars, American Idol, vacuous pop stars, and reality TV, as the War in Iraq drops to fifth place on the list of things that most concern us, we are oblivious to the fact that forces bent on the destruction of our Republic are shaping our future. Like the chained man in Plato's cave who watches the dim shadows dancing on the walls and thinks them reality, we are being deceived. We see the shadows and think they are real; when in fact the world outside the cave is far different. There are indeed things out there--people, countries, movements--that we have reason to fear, if we only knew it. But it is easier to remain in the cave watching the shadows, and there is comfort in not facing reality.
Chandler's use of Plato's allegory works well. Americans are slumbering in a cave of indifference and complacency, unaware of the reality outside. Chandler's book grabs you by the collar, wakes you up and drags you into the sunlight. Shadow World is a comprehensive analysis of the three major threats facing America today: A powerful consortium of countries (Russia, China, Iran, and Venezuela-"The Quadrangle") whose common goal is to reduce the economic, political, and military influence of the United States--the sole superpower after the purported collapse of the Soviet Union--and change the world from a unipolar to a multipolar world in which the United States is weakened or even neutralized; The Islamic Salafist/Wahhabist movement financed by our purported "ally" Saudi Arabia, motivated by a seething hatred of the United States and liberal western democracy and whose goal is to establish a worldwide Islamic caliphate ruled by mullahs who want to revert to the good old days when the Prophet ruled by the sword, everyone studied the Koran and non-believers (Christians and Jews ) converted on pain of death; and a Socialist Fifth Column--a "progressive" (socialist-marxist-communist) movement within our own country, influenced not by classical Marxist-Leninist doctrine, but rather by revisionist Marxist Antonio Gramsci. Gramsci held that powerful liberal Christian democracies such as ours cannot be overcome directly by open revolution but only by attacking the country from within--subverting and replacing its values, institutions, and most of all, its religious traditions with secular humanism and, in time, a socialist state. Shadow World is the bible on the subject of the threats to America and its standing in the world. Unless we read the bible, we may well go out with a whimper. Worse yet, we will not even see it coming.
The Unholy Quadrangle
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, one superpower was left standing. But now we face an alliance formed by sometime enemies/allies by convenience, Russia and China. Along with their surrogates, Iran and Venezuela, they seek to weaken the United States and change the world balance of power in ways we do not want. While George Bush gushed about his relationship with Putin, "looked into his heart" and saw a democratic idealist, in truth Putin stacked all levels of Russian government with communist cronies from his old KGB days, had his enemies (reporters, critics, and wealthy industrialists alike) killed, tried or banished, took control of powerful industries, passed laws making it a crime to "publicly slander public officials," and parlayed his resources and political power in ways that would make the Czars blush with envy. But to the world, Putin is a democrat, and we delude ourselves into thinking that Russia will somehow turn into a benign western-style liberal democracy. We see the shadows of democracy and good will when the reality is something far different. Chandler drills deep and painstakingly analyzes how Putin and Russia seek hegemony over the region and the world, using its pipeline to Europe and billions of petrodollars and foreign investments to finance Russia's historical dreams of conquest. Chandler's treatment of the unseen but growing Chinese threat is equally sobering. We grant China favored nation status, feebly protest its repression of religion and free speech and look the other way while China buys the United States piece by piece. While we treat the world's largest country and fastest-growing economy as a partner in progress, and watch the shadows of hope dance on the wall, the reality is far different. Chandler goes to great lengths to expose the true threat--the reality outside the cave: China is growing the greatest economy on earth, building its military into the strongest in the world, spreading money and influence in Africa and South America, and arming our enemies. Even more alarming, as Chandler notes, is the fact that a recent poll of Chinese citizens revealed that a majority consider the United States not as a friend, but as China's number one enemy. While we naively treat China as a friend and partner, captivated by the dimly lit images of friendship and cooperation, the brutal reality is that China is our greatest competitor. Our sanguine thoughts of friendship and cooperation are sadly delusional--and not reciprocated. Shadow World offers a keen insight into the Chinese efforts in the world today to undermine our country and supplant us as the world's superpower. The Chinese and Russians have found willing allies in their campaign to change the polarity of the world's balance of power. Iran (our second greatest Islamic enemy) , itching to step into the vacuum created when a Democrat president keeps his or her promise to pull out of Iraq--is encouraged and financed by both Russian and China who have invested millions into the country, to design reactors, supply weapons and build infrastructure. That the United States cannot count on Russia or China to dissuade Iran from building nuclear weapons should come as no surprise; as Chandler points out, they are strategic partners, joined at the hip. They seek to build a powerful surrogate in the region which will fill the vacuum created by our departure, ensuring influence, access to oil, and the ability to strangle the world economy. The implications of a nuclear capable Iran, flush with billions in oil revenues, bent on the destruction of Israel (our eternal ally), armed by China and Russia, and able to choke the world the gas pump, are simply too frightening to imagine. In our own back yard, Chandler chronicles the rising threat of Hugo Chavez, a surrogate of the Chinese government, who seeks to export terror, revolution and socialism throughout the region in ways that Fidel only dreamed. The man who would be the next Castro is not merely the next Castro--but Castro on steroids-- more dangerous, more ruthless, and infinitely richer--controlling huge oil reserves that enable him to finance his hemispheric subversion. Also joined at the hip with China, whose influence is increasing throughout the region, Chavez boasts of his desire to destroy America. Chandler's book explores the depths of Chavez' influence in the region, his desire for hegemony in the South American continent and his ties to Russia and China which few have studied as extensively as Chandler. No American should doubt that Russia and China seek world domination and are actively seeking to extend their influence into our own hemisphere. Chandler's treatment of the unholy quadrangle is an eye opener and a unique study of the truth outside the cave. It would be a mistake to dismiss Russia as a second-rate power defanged by the break up of the Soviet Union, to regard China as a friend and partner, or to assume that Iran and Venezuela are simply third world countries run by crazy dictators. The harsh reality is that we face a powerful cabal of nations intent on doing us in, and Chandler exposes the true nature of the threat. Saudi Arabia and Worldwide Jihad
Building on his own knowledge of geopolitics, his extensive study of the historical roots of Islam and the basis for the intense hatred of the West which is shared by a dangerous segment of Muslim jihadists bent on our destruction, Chandler has penned an expose on radical Islam that all Americans must heed. Radical Islam is here, now and in our own back yard. And the threat did not end with 9/11. Shadow World traces the historical, political and religious bases of radical Islam-Salafism/Wahhabism, and how it has spread from the Mideast to our shores. He details how our ostensible "ally"--Saudi Arabia (arguably our greatest enemy, contrary to the slick public relations campaign by the Saudi family to convince us otherwise) has financed the spread of radical, western--liberal -democracy-hating Salafism/Wahhabism across the Mid East, Europe, and into the United States. Ironically they finance their vitriolic anti-western propaganda with petrodollars sent by the billions from Americans who refuse to allow drilling in ANWAR and never stop to ask why nineteen of the twenty-one terrorists involved in 9/11 were Saudis.
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