Ithaca Press is pleased to announce the publication of Iran’s Foreign Policy: From Khatami to Ahmadinejad (new paperback edition), edited by Anoushiravan Ehteshami and Mahjoob Zweiri.
The current situation in Iran is escalating, with US sanctions already in place and EU sanctions reputedly also on the table. Iran’s Foreign Minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, has warned European countries against considering these sanctions, saying ‘ I am calling to all countries in the region – please don’t let yourselves be dragged into a dangerous position.’ It was unclear whether he was referring to military or economic danger in this speech.
Iran’s Foreign Policy: From Khatami to Ahmadinejad examines the implications of the foreign policy decisions of Iran, with a new chapter addressing the current situation, particularly with regard to Iran’s unresolved dispute with the international community over its nuclear programme, and to Iran’s role within the new Middle East, which is currently in the throes of revolution and political upheaval. The editors conclude that ‘what one gleans from what has been said and done since 2011 is a better appreciation of the swiftness of the dynamics of change now gripping the Middle East. The ongoing crisis within the region, coupled with Iran’s own unique political problems and complexities, mean that the relationship between Iran’s foreign policy and the domestic balance of political power has never been more relevant or significant’.
This is a highly topical and timely collection of papers by leading academics and prominent government officials, which sheds light on the foreign policy of Iran under President Khatami and into the period of President Ahmadinejad. The book considers key aspects of Iran’s complex internal and domestic forces, such as the impact of mass communication, with its implications for global interdependence, and the desire for greater freedom and democracy. These aspects of Iran’s internal political culture are juxtaposed against its intense and unshakeable national pride, and the book assesses the ongoing impact of these contradictory forces on its external relationships and foreign policy. Iran’s Foreign Policy provides detailed analysis of Iran’s turbulent relationship with the West. The editors argue in their introduction that ‘the principles that guide Iranian foreign policy have created “enemies of Islam and Iran”, as the Islamic Republic regards the West in general and the United States in particular’. In the context of the Islamic Republic’s guiding principles of maintaining territorial and Muslim integrity and independence, the book’s contributors assess ongoing developments such as the War on Terror, the continuing conflict in Iraq, American–Iranian relations, British–Iranian relations and European–Iranian relations.
About the editors
Professor Anoushiravan Ehteshami is the Nasser Al-Sabah Chair in International Relations at Durham University and Director of the HH Sheikh Nasser Al-Sabah Programme in International Relations and Regional Security in its School of Government and International Affairs. He is Joint Director of the Durham-Edinburgh-Manchester Universities’ ESRC-funded Centre for the Advanced Study of the Arab Sorld (CASAW), 2007-2011.
Dr Mahjoob Zweiri is an Assistant Professor in Contemporary History of Iran and Middle East, and the Head of Humanities Department at Qatar University. He was formerly a Research/Teaching Fellow at the institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the University of Durham and Director of its Centre for Iranian Studies. He also previously worked for the Centre for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan as a senior researcher in Middle Eastern and Iranian Studies.
