Iran between Islam and the West

Iran (Persia) is one of the oldest civilisations, with powerful empires existing in the region since antiquity. The Persians are considered one of the oldest nations in the world. As conquerors from all corners of the globe passed through this Central Asian country, Persia was often subjugated. Yet, it remained one of the few ancient civilisations to retain its language, culture, architecture and bureaucracy, with its conquerors adopting these elements. Each conquest of Persia was followed by a victorious Persian cultural renaissance. Modern Iran is the heir to this ancient history, with its collective identity shaped most strongly by the Islamic period, which continues to this day. During the peak of Islamic civilisation, scientists, cartographers, translators, mathematicians and astronomers worked in royal courts. Their work preserved the writings of ancient scholars in Arabic translations, which eventually made their way to Europe. This book contains many interesting insights and focuses on explaining how Iran – a civilisation that once sought to draw closer to the West and adopt its advancements – became a threat to its neighbours and, above all, to distant Israel. It describes a "clash of civilisations" that do not disappear, but rather evolve, with their futures remaining unknown. Today, Iran stands at a crossroads. Jaroslav Franek (1946) is a former university lecturer at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology of the Slovak University of Technology. From 1990 to 2013, he served as the spokesperson for the Federation of Jewish Communities in Slovakia. He has written academic papers on physics and electrical engineering, as well as articles and monographs on Jewish issues (Judaism, Israel Palestine – a short history, Eretz Israel). He is also one of the founders of the Institute of Jewish Studies at Comenius University in Bratislava, where he taught courses on the general history of the Jewish nation.