The Battle of the Ayatollahs in Iran

The Battle of the Ayatollahs in Iran PDF Author: Alex Vatanka
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0755600061
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
Understanding the foreign policy agenda and behavior of the Islamic Republic of Iran is a critical challenge for the world. But where do the principal Iranian regime actors come from in terms of political background, experiences and interests? Which types of ambitions or policy conflicts have dominated and shaped foreign policy debates since 1979? This book explains the internal policy process in Tehran by following two regime personalities, Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who before his death in January 2017 held some of the most powerful political positions in Iran. No two men have been more influential in dictating the regime's decision-making processes since 1979. Yet little is known about how their competing worldviews and interests, their key moments of dispute – both personal or policy-based – or their personal ambitions have informed the trajectory of Iranian politics. The book analyzes Khamenei and Rafsanjani's own words and writings - and accounts of them given by others - to reveal how the domestic policy contest has shaped Tehran's actions on the regional and international stage. Comprising primary and secondary Iranian sources - including untapped memoirs, newspaper reports, and Iranian electronic media and personal interviews - the book highlights the principal rivalries over the lifespan of the Islamic Republic and offers new insights into the present and future of Iranian foreign policy.

The Battle of the Ayatollahs in Iran

The Battle of the Ayatollahs in Iran PDF Author: Alex Vatanka
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0755600061
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
Understanding the foreign policy agenda and behavior of the Islamic Republic of Iran is a critical challenge for the world. But where do the principal Iranian regime actors come from in terms of political background, experiences and interests? Which types of ambitions or policy conflicts have dominated and shaped foreign policy debates since 1979? This book explains the internal policy process in Tehran by following two regime personalities, Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who before his death in January 2017 held some of the most powerful political positions in Iran. No two men have been more influential in dictating the regime's decision-making processes since 1979. Yet little is known about how their competing worldviews and interests, their key moments of dispute – both personal or policy-based – or their personal ambitions have informed the trajectory of Iranian politics. The book analyzes Khamenei and Rafsanjani's own words and writings - and accounts of them given by others - to reveal how the domestic policy contest has shaped Tehran's actions on the regional and international stage. Comprising primary and secondary Iranian sources - including untapped memoirs, newspaper reports, and Iranian electronic media and personal interviews - the book highlights the principal rivalries over the lifespan of the Islamic Republic and offers new insights into the present and future of Iranian foreign policy.

Enemies of the Ayatollahs

Enemies of the Ayatollahs PDF Author: Mohammad Mohaddessin
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
What happens in post-war Iraq may well be decided by what happens in Iran. In this powerful account of its theocratic regime, the author pays particular attention to the Iranian factor in the 2003 Iraq war, and the likely impact of the continuation of the mullahs' regime and its tendency to interfere in its neighbour's affairs. He reveals startling new information about Iran's continued links with fundamentalist Islamic organizations abroad, the pursuit of its nuclear ambitions, and its ongoing use of terrorism against its own opponents - all of which justify a high level of international concern. The author argues that, in contrast to the ruling regime, the main Iranian opposition is essentially democratic, nationalist and in favour of a separation of religion and state. He raises fundamental questions about Islamic fundamentalism, and sets out a liberating, compassionate, tolerant and democratic version of Islam which can hold out hope for the Middle East as a whole.

Iran under the Ayatollahs (Routledge Revivals)

Iran under the Ayatollahs (Routledge Revivals) PDF Author: Dilip Hiro
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135043817
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 459

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Book Description
First published in 1985, this is a comprehensive study of the Middle East's most strategic country, set against the background of the Islamic heritage of Iran and the rise and fall of the Pahlavi dynasty. Dilip Hiro describes the various phases through which the Islamic revolution has passed, gives an incisive account of the first Gulf War, and provides an historical survey of Iran's relations with the West, the Soviet bloc, and other countries of the region.

Guardians of the Revolution

Guardians of the Revolution PDF Author: Ray Takeyh
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199754101
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
For over a quarter century, Iran has been one of America's chief nemeses. Ever since Ayatollah Khomeini overthrew the Shah in 1979, the relationship between the two nations has been antagonistic: revolutionary guards chanting against the Great Satan, Bush fulminating against the Axis of Evil, Iranian support for Hezbollah, and President Ahmadinejad blaming the U.S. for the world's ills. The unending war of words suggests an intractable divide between Iran and the West, one that may very well lead to a shooting war in the near future. But as Ray Takeyh shows in this accessible and authoritative history of Iran's relations with the world since the revolution, behind the famous personalities and extremist slogans is a nation that is far more pragmatic--and complex--than many in the West have been led to believe. Takeyh explodes many of our simplistic myths of Iran as an intransigently Islamist foe of the West. Tracing the course of Iranian policy since the 1979 revolution, Takeyh identifies four distinct periods: the revolutionary era of the 1980s, the tempered gradualism following the death of Khomeini and the end of the Iran-Iraq war in 1989, the "reformist" period from 1997-2005 under President Khatami, and the shift toward confrontation and radicalism since the election of President Ahmadinejad in 2005. Takeyh shows that three powerful forces--Islamism, pragmatism, and great power pretensions--have competed in each of these periods, and that Iran's often paradoxical policies are in reality a series of compromises between the hardliners and the moderates, often with wild oscillations between pragmatism and ideological dogmatism. The U.S.'s task, Takeyh argues, is to find strategies that address Iran's objectionable behavior without demonizing this key player in an increasingly vital and volatile region. With its clear-sighted grasp of both nuance and historical sweep, Guardians of the Revolution will stand as the standard work on this controversial--and central--actor in world politics for years to come.

Reign Of Ayatollahs

Reign Of Ayatollahs PDF Author: Shaul Bakhash
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 9780465068883
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description


Guests of the Ayatollah

Guests of the Ayatollah PDF Author: Mark Bowden
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 712

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Book Description
Provides an account of the Iran hostage crisis during which fifty-two Americans were held hostage for 444 days, offering insights from the hostages, soldiers sent to free them, the radical captors, and diplomats trying to end the crisis.

The Battle of the Ayatollahs in Iran

The Battle of the Ayatollahs in Iran PDF Author: Alex Vatanka
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0755600053
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
Understanding the foreign policy agenda and behavior of the Islamic Republic of Iran is a critical challenge for the world. But where do the principal Iranian regime actors come from in terms of political background, experiences and interests? Which types of ambitions or policy conflicts have dominated and shaped foreign policy debates since 1979? This book explains the internal policy process in Tehran by following two regime personalities, Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who before his death in January 2017 held some of the most powerful political positions in Iran. No two men have been more influential in dictating the regime's decision-making processes since 1979. Yet little is known about how their competing worldviews and interests, their key moments of dispute – both personal or policy-based – or their personal ambitions have informed the trajectory of Iranian politics. The book analyzes Khamenei and Rafsanjani's own words and writings - and accounts of them given by others - to reveal how the domestic policy contest has shaped Tehran's actions on the regional and international stage. Comprising primary and secondary Iranian sources - including untapped memoirs, newspaper reports, and Iranian electronic media and personal interviews - the book highlights the principal rivalries over the lifespan of the Islamic Republic and offers new insights into the present and future of Iranian foreign policy.

Blood & Oil

Blood & Oil PDF Author: Manucher Farmanfarmaian
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0307430715
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 569

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Book Description
PEN/West Award Finalist " Told with energy, perception and great charm. . . . For anyone who wants to . . . gain insight into the great cultural and political richness of Iran, past, present and future, this book is a marvelous introduction." --Fred Halliday, Los Angeles Times Iran was the first country in the Middle East to develop an oil industry, and oil has been central to its tumultuous twentieth-century history. A finalist for the PEN/West Award, Blood and Oil tells the epic inside story of the battle for Iranian oil. A prominent member of one of Iran's most powerful aristocratic families--so feared by Khomeini that the entire clan was blacklisted--Prince Manucher Farmanfarmaian was raised in a harem at the heart of Iran's imperial court. With wit and provocative detail, he describes the days when he served as the Shah's oil adviser and pioneered the partnership that resulted in OPEC. Beautifully written and epic in its scope, this scintillating memoir provides a fascinating history of modern Iran. " Distinguished by its political acumen, historical sense, and vividness of description and anecdote. It is also notable for a wry sense of humour. . . . Amid the euphoria about the development of the oilfields of Central Asia and the Transcaucasus, [its] lesson should be kept in mind." --Anatol Lieven, Financial Times "A book of stunning beauty . . . One of the best accounts of the cultural and political life of modern Iran, it is exquisite and intimate, rendered with art-istry and detail." --Fouad Ajami

The Ayatollahs and the MEK

The Ayatollahs and the MEK PDF Author: Lincoln P. Bloomfield, Jr.
Publisher: University of Baltimore College of Public Affairs
ISBN: 9780578536095
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 42

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Book Description
Ambassador Lincoln P. Bloomfield, Jr. presents breaking revelations and documents compelling evidence that the Islamic Republic of Iran's organized opposition, the Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), and its parliament-in-exile, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), have been falsely portrayed in Washington for years.

An Island of Stability

An Island of Stability PDF Author: Mark Thiessen
Publisher: Sidestone Press
ISBN: 9088900191
Category : Iran
Languages : en
Pages : 80

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Book Description
In 1979, the world was taken by surprise when the Iranian people revolted against their westernized ruling elite, and traded in the Shah for a radical Islamic republic ruled by the most senior Shiite cleric, ayatollah Khomeini. The Islamic revolution of Iran was a breaking point in history. It was the defining moment for Islam in the twentieth century and fuelled the Islamic confidence that has since then only grown. The roots of the revolution were deeply entrenched in the recent history of Iran, yet in the West, almost no one knew what was happening. The rise of ayatollah Khomeini and the Islamic republic seemed to have come out of nowhere. In this book, historian Mark Thiessen tries to answer the most important questions of the Islamic revolution. What happened, and where did it come from? This book explores the background of the revolution, and gives a detailed account of its course. It analyzes the rise of Khomeini, and his ideology. By studying the archives of the Dutch embassy in Tehran, Thiessen finally tries to find out about the way the Dutch mission experienced and interpreted the revolution, at a time when the outcome was not yet clear.