Iran Foreign Policy

This month, Bloomsbury Collections features a reading list of titles to learn more about the political situation and foreign policy of Iran. Check out the introduction of each book below to learn more about what that book has to offer to put the current political situation in Iran in context.

The US-Iran Relationship: The Impact of Political Identity on Foreign Policy

This book analyses the extent to which political identity has contributed to challenges in the relationship between Iran and the USA and the role of myths in foreign policy. It examines the construction of political identity in each country, and thereby traces the imagined norms which have their impact on international behaviour. Looking at the misperceptions that have precluded closer communication between the two states, Kinch examines both historical issues, such as the 1979 US embassy hostage crisis as well as more contemporary crises, most notably over Iran's nuclear power programme.

Read “Iranian Political Identity”

Nuclear Iran: The Birth of an Atomic State

What is Iran’s nuclear programme all about? What is its genesis? There is little real understanding of Iran’s nuclear programme, in particular its history, which is now over fifty years old. This book argues that the history of Iran’s nuclear programme and the modern history of the country itself are irretrievably linked, and only by understanding one can we understand the other. From the programme’s beginnings under the Shah of Iran, the book details the central role of the US in the birth of nuclear Iran and the role that nuclear weapons have played in the programme since the beginning.

Read “Two Centuries of Loss: Iran at the Advent Of Nuclear Power”

Nuclear Discourse and State Legitimacy in Iran: How Iran Leverages its Nuclear Program to Secure Domestic Support

This book examines the social dimensions of Iran's nuclear program. By analyzing the nuclear discourses that have emerged over the past two decades in Iran, it demonstrates how political leaders have portrayed the nuclear program as an indication of the political system's efficiency in overcoming the crisis of political legitimacy. The author argues that while internal conflicts and international pressures caused nuclear discourses to lose their legitimacy-building potential, the persistence of an inefficiency crisis continues to fuel the legitimacy crisis.

Read “Iran’s Nuclear Program: Origins and Motivations”

United States Relations with China and Iran: Toward the Asian Century

Bringing together experts from history, international relations and the social sciences, United States Relations with China and Iran examines the past, present and future of U.S. foreign relations toward the People’s Republic of China and the Islamic Republic of Iran. It benefits from recently declassified documents and an interdisciplinary, transnational approach to explore different aspects of the relations between these three countries. While the 20th century has been referred to as the “American Century,” this book posits that the 21st century will be shaped by relations between the United States and key countries in Asia, in particular China and Iran.

Read “The American Factor: US Diplomacy and the Trajectory of Iran’s Nuclear Issue, 2003–15

Decoding Iran’s Foreign Policy: Strategic Interests, Power and Influence

Since the 1979 revolution, Iranian leaders have persisted in advancing a foreign policy aimed at achieving regional prominence and, in particular, rebuffing U.S. efforts to limit Iran’s influence. But how are foreign policy decisions made in light of the country’s tumultuous history? This book uses a ‘strategic lens’ to explain how Iran conducts its current foreign policy and to unpack the dilemmas and strategic quandaries facing the Islamic Republic today.

Read "The Historical Present"