Hidden Iran

Author : Ray Takeyh
Publisher : Macmillan
Page : 276 pages
File Size : 52,8 Mb
Release : 2006-10-03
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781429936101

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Hidden Iran by Ray Takeyh Pdf

A leading expert explains why we fail to understand Iran and offers a new strategy for redefining this crucial relationship For more than a quarter of a century, few countries have been as resistant to American influence or understanding as Iran. The United States and Iran have long eyed each other with suspicion, all too eager to jump to conclusions and slam the door. What gets lost along the way is a sense of what is actually happening inside Iran and why it matters. With a new hard-line Iranian president making incendiary pronouncements and pressing for nuclear developments, the consequences of not understanding Iran have never been higher. Ray Takeyh, a leading expert on Iran's politics and history, has written a groundbreaking book that demystifies the Iranian regime and shows how the fault lines of Iran's domestic politics serve to explain its behavior. In Hidden Iran, he explains why this country has so often confounded American expectations and why its outward hostility does not necessarily preclude the normalization of relations. Through a clearer understanding of the competing claims of Muslim theology, republican pragmatism, and factional competition, he offers a new paradigm for managing our relations with this rising power.

Author : Stephan Orth
Publisher : Greystone Books Ltd
Page : 240 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2018-05-01
Category : Travel
ISBN : 9781771642811

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Couchsurfing in Iran by Stephan Orth Pdf

Included in the 2018 summer reading list by New York Times Books A modern-day glimpse into the surprising reality of life in Iran. Iran: A destination that is seldom seen by westerners yet often misunderstood. A country that simultaneously “enchants and enrages” those who visit it. A place where leading a double life has become the norm. In Couchsurfing in Iran, award-winning author Stephan Orth spends sixty-two days on the road in this mysterious Islamic republic to provide a revealing, behind-the-scenes look at life in one of the world’s most closed societies. Through the unsurpassed hospitality of twenty-two hosts, he skips the guidebooks and tourist attractions and travels from Persian carpet to bed to cot, covering more than 8,400 kilometers to recount “this world’s hidden doings.” Experiencing daily what he calls the “two Irans” that coexist side by side—the “theocracy, where people mourn their martyrs” in mausoleums, and the “hide-and-seek-ocracy, where people hold secret parties and seek worldly thrills instead of spiritual bliss”—he learns that Iranians have become experts in navigating around their country’s strict laws. Though couchsurfing is officially prohibited in Iran—the state fears spies would be able to travel undetected through the country—more than a hundred thousand Iranians are registered with online couchsurfing portals. And thanks to these hospitable, English-speaking strangers, Orth gets up close and personal with locals, peering behind closed doors and blank windows to uncover the inner workings of a country where public show and private reality are strikingly opposed.

Author : Hussein Banai
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 187 pages
File Size : 48,6 Mb
Release : 2020-12-10
Category : History
ISBN : 9781108495592

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Hidden Liberalism by Hussein Banai Pdf

Exploring liberalism's invisible, yet influential status, in modern Iranian political and intellectual discourses, this study examines the paradox of why liberalism has formed the basis of many social and political struggles, yet remains hidden as a public standpoint in contemporary Iran.

Author : Tomas B. Phillips
Publisher : Lulu.com
Page : 459 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 2011-02-16
Category : History
ISBN : 9780557505470

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Queer Sinister Things: The Hidden History of Iran by Tomas B. Phillips Pdf

Phillips delivers a refreshingly honest and deeply compelling narrative of the history of modern Iran. With the feel of a great historical novel, Philips pierces through the ideological biases which have shaped our understanding of the Middle East, Cold War and the Iranian people. On every page we witness the complexity of governing a developing nation torn internally by the demands of "liberal" constitutional republicans, radical Socialists and radical Islamists and externally between the opposing powers of East and West. In Queer Sinister Things, Phillips by-passes the version of events dominant in today's academic and media circles, relying instead on the stories provided by those who documented developments in and about Iran as they happened. This living history, highly recommended for students, educators, journalists, policy makers and lovers of history everywhere, will forever change your understanding of this ancient land and its people.

Author : Trita Parsi
Publisher : Yale University Press
Page : 381 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2007-10-01
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780300138061

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Treacherous Alliance by Trita Parsi Pdf

This award-winning study traces the shifting relations between Israel, Iran, and the U.S. since 1948—including secret alliances and treacherous acts. Vitriolic exchanges between the leaders of Iran and Israel are a disturbingly common feature of the news cycle. But the real roots of their enmity mystify Washington policymakers, leaving no promising pathways to stability. In Treacherous Alliance, U.S. foreign policy expert Trita Parsi untangles to complex and often duplicitous relationship among Israel, Iran, and the United States from 1948 to the present. In the process, he reveals shocking details of unsavory political maneuverings that have undermined Middle Eastern peace and disrupted U.S. foreign policy initiatives in the region. Parsi draws on his unique access to senior American, Iranian, and Israeli decision makers to present behind-the-scenes revelations that will surprise even the most knowledgeable readers: Iran’s prime minister asks Israel to assassinate Khomeini; Israel reaches out to Saddam Hussein after the Gulf War; the United States foils Iran’s plan to withdraw support from Hamas and Hezbollah; and more. Treacherous Alliance not only revises our understanding of the recent past, it also spells out a course for the future. An Arthur Ross Book Award Silver Medal Winner A Choice Magazine Outstanding Academic Title

Author : Esther Amini
Publisher : eBookIt.com
Page : 306 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 2020
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780990619437

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Concealed by Esther Amini Pdf

Esther Amini grew up in Queens, New York, during the free-wheeling 1960s. She also grew up in a Persian-Jewish household, the American- born daughter of parents who had fled Mashhad, Iran. In CONCEALED she tells the story of being caught between these two worlds: the dutiful daughter of tradition-bound parents who hungers for more self-determination than tradition allows. Exploring the roots of her father's deep silences and explosive temper, her mother's flamboyance and flights from home, and her own sense of indebtedness to her two Iranian-born brothers, Amini uncovers the story of her parents' early years in Mashhad, Iran's holiest Muslim city; the little known history and persecution of Mashhad's underground Jews; the incident that steeled her mother's resolve to leave; and her parents' arduous journey to the United States, where they found themselves facing a new threat to their traditions: the threat of freedom. Determined to protect his only daughter from corruption, Amini's father prohibits talk, books, higher education, and tries to push her into an early Persian marriage. Can she resist? Should she? Focused intently on what she stands to gain, Amini eventually comes to see what she also stands to lose: a family and community bound together by food, celebrations, sibling escapades, and unexpected acts of devotion by parents to whom she feels invisible. In this poignant, funny, entertaining and uplifting memoir, Amini documents with keen eye, quick wit, and warm heart, how family members build, buoy, wound, and save one another across generations; how lives are shaped by the demands and burdens of loyalty and legacy; and how she rose to the challenge of deciding what to keep and what to discard.

Author : Saïd Amir Arjomand
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 368 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 2012-07-15
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780226924809

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The Shadow of God and the Hidden Imam by Saïd Amir Arjomand Pdf

Dismissing oversimplified and politically charged views of the politics of Shi'ite Islam, Said Amir Arjomand offers a richly researched sociological and historical study of Shi'ism and the political order of premodern Iran that exposes the roots of what became Khomeini's theocracy.

Author : Amir Taheri
Publisher : Encounter Books
Page : 434 pages
File Size : 42,6 Mb
Release : 2010
Category : History
ISBN : 9781594034794

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The Persian Night by Amir Taheri Pdf

"With a new afterword by the author"--Cover.

Author : Ronen Bergman
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 433 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 2008-09-09
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781416564904

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The Secret War with Iran by Ronen Bergman Pdf

For twenty-six years, Iran has waged an international terrorist war while the intelligence services of the West, led by Mossad and the CIA, have waged a relentless, mostly clandestine counter-jihad in return. Though Iran has become a quietly looming threat, little has been revealed about this intelligence-based war. Now, Ronen Bergman, Israel’s leading reporter and analyst of intelligence affairs, has written a full account of this secret war. He connected the dots of the long history of Iranian backed terrorist attacks, and revealed for the first time many classified operations against the Iranian terrorist network, including details about collaborations between Israel’s Mossad and the CIA and FBI; thrilling Mossad operations, the successful recruitment of top insiders of Iranian intelligence, who have disclosed a wealth of information about Iran’s nuclear program as well as it’s terrorist activities; and the use of ultra-sophisticated surveillance equipment to penetrate and damage Iranian targets. From the Iranian proxy Hizbollah’s planning of terrorists attacks from apartments in New York City, to Iran’s training of an army of work Iraqi insurgents in the techniques of suicide bombing and the making of improvised explosive devises, he showed Iran has steadily waged war against the West.

Author : Ray Takeyh
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 328 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2009-05-27
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 0199793131

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Guardians of the Revolution by Ray Takeyh Pdf

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.

Author : Penelope Kinch
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 288 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 2016-07-18
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780857727343

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The US-Iran Relationship by Penelope Kinch Pdf

Since the Revolution of 1978/79, which eventually brought to power Ayatollah Khomeini and his circle of conservative, though politically active, clerics, the relationship between Iran and the USA has represented one of the world's most complex and hostile international entanglements. In this book, Penelope Kinch analyses the extent to which political identity has contributed to challenges in the relationship and the role of myths in foreign policy. Kinch first 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.

Author : Jay Solomon
Publisher : Random House
Page : 352 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2016-08-23
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780812993653

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The Iran Wars by Jay Solomon Pdf

From Qasem Soleimani to the nuclear deal, a deeply reported exploration of Iran’s decades-long power struggle with the United States—in the tradition of Steve Coll’s Ghost Wars and Lawrence Wright’s The Looming Tower “A front-row view of the spy games, assassinations, political intrigue and high-stakes diplomacy that have defined relations with one of America’s most cunning and dangerous foes.”—Joby Warrick, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS For more than a decade, the United States has been engaged in a war with Iran as momentous as any other in the Middle East—a war all the more significant as it has largely been hidden from public view. Through a combination of economic sanctions, global diplomacy, and intelligence work, successive U.S. administrations have struggled to contain Iran’s aspirations to become a nuclear power and dominate the region—what many view as the most serious threat to peace in the Middle East. Meanwhile, Iran has used regional instability to its advantage to undermine America’s interests. The Iran Wars is an absorbing account of a battle waged on many levels—military, financial, and covert. Jay Solomon’s book is the product of extensive in-depth reporting and interviews with all the key players in the conflict—from high-ranking Iranian officials to Secretary of State John Kerry and his negotiating team. With a reporter’s masterly investigative eye and the narrative dexterity of a great historian, Solomon shows how Iran’s nuclear development went unnoticed for years by the international community only to become its top security concern. He catalogs the blunders of both the Bush and Obama administrations as they grappled with how to engage Iran, producing a series of both carrots and sticks. And he takes us inside the hotel suites where the 2015 nuclear agreement was negotiated, offering a frank assessment of the uncertain future of the U.S.-Iran relationship. This is a book rife with revelations, from the secret communications between the Obama administration and the Iranian government to dispatches from the front lines of the new field of financial warfare. For readers of Steve Coll’s Ghost Wars and Lawrence Wright’s The Looming Tower, The Iran Wars exposes the hidden history of a conflict whose outcome could have far-reaching geopolitical implications.

Author : Ray Takeyh
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 321 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 2011-05-05
Category : History
ISBN : 9780199754106

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Guardians of the Revolution by Ray Takeyh Pdf

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.

Author : Gail Cook-Johnson
Publisher : Greenwood
Page : 146 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 1980
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : STANFORD:36105035747075

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High-level Manpower in Iran by Gail Cook-Johnson Pdf

Author : O. Seliktar
Publisher : Springer
Page : 228 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 2012-04-23
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781137010889

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Navigating Iran by O. Seliktar Pdf

This book provides the first full account of America's relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran from Jimmy Carter's presidency to Barack Obama's. It discusses all major facets of Iranian policy of interest to the United States: nuclear proliferation, revolutionary export and support for international terrorism, efforts to undermine the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and violations of human rights. It compares developments in Iran to their perception in Washington, providing the clearest picture available yet of the discrepancies between the complex and elusive Iranian reality and its understanding in the United States.