Description
Book SynopsisWhy does the rift between the US and Iran persist?Iran and the United States have been at odds for forty years, locked in a cold war that has run the gamut from harsh rhetoric to hostage-taking, from crippling sanctions to targeted killings. In Republics of Myth, Hussein Banai, Malcolm Byrne, and John Tirman argue that a major contributing factor to this tenacious enmity is how each nation views itself. The two nations have differing interests and grievances about each other, but their often-deadly confrontation derives from the very different national narratives that shape their politics, actions, and vision of their own destiny in the world. The dominant American narrative is the myth of the frontierthat the US can tame it, tame its inhabitants, and nurture democracy as well. Iran, conversely, can claim two dominant myths: the first, an unbroken (but not for lack of trying) lineage back to Cyrus the Great, and the second, the betrayal of Imam Hussein, the Prophet's grandson. Both I
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Acronyms
Introduction. Foundations of a Conflict
1. The Narrative Trap
2. The Fraught US-Iran Relationship, from Mosaddeq to Khomeini
3. The Iran-Iraq War
4. Rafsanjani and the Post-Khomeini Order
5. Khatami and the Possibility of Dialogue
6. The Shadow of Khobar in Washington
7. Bush in the Khatami Era
8. The Iraq War and Its Consequences
9. The Nuclear File under Bush 43
10. Obama Enters
11. Rouhani, Zarif, and the Nuclear Deal
12. Trump and Regeneration through Violence
Conclusion. Narratives and National Interests
Notes
About the Authors
Index
