Confronting Iran: The Failure of American Foreign Policy and the Roots of Mistrust |
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Ali M. Ansari
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Pages: 280 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 1850658099
Pub: C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd
Pub date: 2006-07-18
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 226131
Reader Reviews:
Excellent review (6/7 people found this helpful)
Ali Ansari provides an excellent review of Iran's relations with the West and particularly the United States. It rapidly covers nearly 150 years of interactions but obviously focusses on the major events - 1953 Mossadeq, the 1979 revolution and hostage taking and more recent happenings. It is very good on recent internal politics and the build up of tensions over nuclear research and weapons development.
The book is a fascinating reminder of the shifting grounds of international politics. Iran had the first freely elected democratic government in the Middle East in 1952 - but Prime Minister Mossadeq was deposed by the CIA and MI6 - how ironic. Iran has an atomic energy programme thanks to assistance from the USA - now the major source of contention between the countries.
The sadness of the book are the frequent missed opportunities for raprochment between both countries. The west and especially the USA has consistently miss read Iran over many years. Equally there have been times when the US and the west has reached out to Iran but the appropriate responses were not made.
The book is very readable but would benefit from a good editing to improve its flow. Ansari's favorite word is "myth" and he overuses it in explaining the "myths" about Iran and the "myths" about America.
A very pertinent book at this time and a good read for anyone interested in the current situation. Iran is either the next big opportunity for the West or the next big challenge. Located between the current trouble spots of Iraq and Afghanistan and with a distrubing atomic programme the next couple of years will be fascinating.
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