His first book, entitled "A Century of War: Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order", discusses the alleged roles of Zbigniew Brzezinski and George Ball and in the 1979 overthrow of the Shah of Iran, which was meant to manipulate oil prices and to stop Soviet expansion. Engdahl claims that Brzezinski and Ball used the Islamic Balkanization model proposed by Bernard Lewis. In 2007, he completed "Seeds of Destruction: The Hidden Agenda of Genetic Manipulation", in which he criticized Monsanto's strategy with GMO seeds, such as Roundup Ready soybeans. He has also written for newsmagazines such as the "Asia Times".