Overview

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? How do the challenges posed by regional and global actors impact Iranian decision making? And how can we expect Iran to behave in the future? 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. Ross Harrison argues that to understand Iranian behavior it is essential to look at it from the perspective of Iran’s strategic interests, namely: its capabilities; how Iran interprets the region, the international community and itself; and the state’s conception of time and territory in its foreign policy calculations. Iranian foreign policy - in searching for a winning strategy for power and influence – is revealed to evince ideological strains but also realpolitik considerations based on current interpretations of the national interest. These different strains in Iran’s foreign policy represent the complexity of the challenges and opportunities the state faces. They also help us to understand the present and future of Iranian foreign policy behavior.

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Reviews

An excellent portrait of the history and evolution of Iranian foreign policy. It is a realist account that demonstrates at each step how Iranian leaders responded to their environment, and how those actions served, or failed to serve, Iran’s national interests. It clearly delineates how Iran’s world view is shaped by its own history but also how it reacts to the circumstances of the moment. It outlines with great clarity Iran’s fundamental strategies, and considers how its strategic instincts may shape its response to future events. This is a book that calls out to be used in the classroom, since it presents a wealth of factual material without falling into the trap of bias and partisanship that taints so much of the contemporary literature on Iran. -- Gary Sick, Senior Research Scholar at Columbia University’s Middle East Institute In his excellent new book, Ross Harrison zeros in on perhaps the most important issue regarding Iran: Can it be nudged into prioritizing diplomacy and “state-based integration into the global system” in the wake of Israeli-inflicted damage to its “Axis of Resistance”? Harrison’s book provides essential historical background to understand Iran’s choices and will be of great use to academics, policymakers and anyone with an interest in the future of this pivotal nation. -- Barbara Slavin- Author of ""Bitter Friends, Bosom Enemies: Iran, the U.S.and the Twisted Path to Confrontation"" Miracle-worker Ross Harrison has somehow made the incomprehensible comprehensible. In his words, he has “decoded” the seemingly unbreakable messages of Iran’s foreign policy. In so doing, he has applied a blend of scholarship, vision, and balance in a field too often dominated by emotions, wishful thinking, and personal biases. -- Ambassador John Limbert (retired)

Author Information

Ross Harrison is Senior Fellow and Director of Research at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC, USA. He is also a member of faculty at the Department of Political Science in the University of Pittsburgh, USA. His books include Strategic Thinking in 3D: A Guide for National Security, Foreign Policy and Business Professionals (2013) and From Chaos to Cooperation: Toward Regional Order in the Middle East (2017) and he co-edited with Paul Salem, Escaping the Conflict Trap: Toward Ending Civil Wars in the Middle East (2019). He has written numerous articles on Middle East Affairs in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The National Interest, Parameters and Orient.

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