Description
Book SynopsisImagining Iran constructs and assembles American foreign policy through critical security studies discourse analysis and Orientalist descriptions of key actors within the presidential administrations of Lyndon Baines Johnson through Ronald Reagan (19651989). This book is essential reading for those who are interested in learning about how foreign policy making is conducted, how theories directly affect the process of foreign policy making, and how the shah and Iran served US interests. It also discusses the larger question of why the US uses autocratic proxies to pursue its nominally human rights and democracy-based goals.
Students of foreign policy, Middle East studies, and critical security studies, as well as Iran experts, can benefit from this historical deep dive on policy making. The internal conversations, diary entries, and previously classified documents and briefings tell the story of how the US imagined Iran, and why that ideational construction proved to b
Trade Review
“Jonathon Whooley boldly confronts, with careful and rigorous archival analysis, one of the most important issues of US foreign policy toward the Middle East. He presents a rare and perceptive combination of the construction of American foreign policy toward Iran by deploying the use of specific aspects of foreign policy discourse. By providing a cogent post-structural discourse ontology—deeply rooted in the language of key actors involved—this volume makes a vigorous contribution to critical security studies. «Imagining Iran» is a must-read for anyone concerned about the possibilities of change toward and/or rapprochement with Iran in the region’s highly complex and evolving political context.” —Mahmood Monshipouri, San Francisco State University, Visiting Professor of the University of California, Berkeley
“«Imagining Iran» combines rich historical research with insightful analysis from security studies and postcolonial theory to make sense of US Cold War–era policy toward Iran. Well-written, easy to follow, but importantly controversial—it is a must-read for scholars and students alike.” —Laura Sjoberg, University of Florida
Table of Contents
Foreword – Acknowledgments – Security Narratives and American Foreign Policy Research Design – Foreign Policy and Ideational Construction within the Johnson Administration – Foreign Policy and Ideational Construction within the Nixon Administration – Security, Foreign Policy, and Ideational Construction within the Ford Administration – Security, Foreign Policy, and Ideational Construction within the Carter Administration – Foreign Policy and Ideational Construction within the Reagan Administration – Conclusion: The ‘Good Oriental’ and American Foreign Policy toward Iran – Appendix: Archival Documents – Bibliography – Index.
