Solutions

About the Book

Dealing with radical Islamist ideologies successfully is one of the big challenges of our time. This book is analyzing major causes of the ideology of al-Qaeda and of Iran, both often described as evil. It offers solutions to mitigate the violence of radical Islamist ideologies and eventually to dissolve them. It shows that the ideology of al-Qaeda is very much rooted in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. With respect to Iran, it highlights the fact that the event of the overthrow of the democratically elected prime minister of Iran, Mohammad Mossadegh, and the destruction of the young Iranian democracy by the CIA in 1953 is the most important reason for the severe mistrust and the hostilities of Iran towards the United States. This book concludes, among others, that a comprehensive peace between Israel and the Palestinians is a requirement to significantly mitigate the violence of radical Islamist ideologies. This needs to go hand in hand with strengthening the condemnation of the distorted religious ideology of al-Qaeda and ISIL by religious authorities of Islam.

About the Author

Winfried F. Schmitz, born in 1954, is a corporate lawyer practicing in New York with an emphasis on cross-border corporate and financial transactions. Besides law (Ph.D. of the University of Bonn, Germany, and M.C.J. of NYU School of Law, New York City), he studied the science of politics. The author traveled the Middle East since age 17 extensively. He is active in international lawyers’ associations, among others, with the aim to promote human rights and to build bridges of understanding among different cultures and jurisdictions. The author organized, supported or sponsored seminars, conferences and publications in or in relation to the Middle East and its legal developments. Since 2004, the author is contributing for the improvements of civil structures in Afghanistan. In 2009, a school for 400 hundred children was opened in a rural area in the Afghan province of Khost financed by the author. He founded his own small charity (FONDATIONE SCHMITZ) in 2006. The foundation continues to be primarily active in Afghanistan supporting nation building in the areas of education and health.