Becoming Enemies: U.S.-Iran Relations and the Iran-Iraq War, 1979-1988

James G. Blight, Janet M. Lang, Hussein Banai, Malcolm Byrne, John Tirman

Rowman & Littlefield, 2014 - Political Science - 394 pages

Becoming Enemies brings the unique methods of critical oral history, developed to study flashpoints from the Cold War such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, to understand U.S. and Iranian relations from the fall of the Shah in 1978 through the Iranian hostage crisis and the Iran-Iraq war. Scholars and former officials involved with U.S. and UN policy take a fresh look at U.S and Iranian relations during this time, with special emphasis on the U.S. role in the Iran-Iraq War. With its remarkable declassified documentation and oral testimony that bear directly on questions of U.S. policymaking with regard to the Iran-Iraq War, Becoming Enemies reveals much that was previously unknown about U.S. policy before, during, and after the war. They go beyond mere reportage to offer lessons regarding fundamental foreign policy challenges to the U.S. that transcend time and place.

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LibraryThing Review

User Review  - douboy50 - LibraryThing

Well researched book. Very insightful and interesting One of those books that explains why we are where are in the Middle East. Highly recommend if you are interested in US policy and error in the Middle East.

Contents

• A Readers Guide to Becoming Enemies: 3
• Dramatis Personae Whos Who at the Musgrove Conference: 19
• The Evolution of Dueling US and Iranian Narratives: 25
• A CRITICAL ORAL HISTORY OF THE ORIGINS OF USIRANIAN ENMITY: 53
• The Origins of Enmity 19791982: 55
• A Strategy for Avoiding a Middle Eastern Armageddon: 95
• The IranContra Affair: 125
• Iraqi Resurgence in 1988 and Iranian Preparation for War with the United States: 151
• How the UN Facilitated the End of the War: 195
• PERSPECTIVES AND INTERPRETATIONS: 225
• Chapter 7 Missed Opportunities? The Virtual History of USIran Relations during the IranIraq War: 227
• What Did We Learn from the Musgrove Dialogues?: 253
• The IranIraq War 19801988: 287
• Appendix 2 Annotated Excerpts from Declassified Documents: 297
• Acknowledgments: 351
• Notes: 355
• Acronyms: 371
• Index: 373
• About the Authors: 393

About the author

James G. Blight, Center for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) chair in Foreign Policy Development, Balsillie School of International Relations, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario

janet M. Lang, research professor, Balsillie School of International Affairs, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario

Hussein Banai, assistant professor of diplomacy and world affairs at Occidental College..

Malcolm Byrne, Deputy Director, National Security Archive at George Washington University, Washington, DC.

John Tirman, Executive Director and Principal Research Scientist, Center for International Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Becoming Enemies: U.S.-Iran Relations and the Iran-Iraq War, 1979-1988; G - Reference,Information and Interdisciplinary Subjects Series
• Authors: James G. Blight, Janet M. Lang, Hussein Banai, Malcolm Byrne, John Tirman
• Editor: James G. Blight
• Contributor: Bruce Riedel
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield, 2014
• ISBN: 1442208317, 9781442208315
• Length: 394 pages
• Subjects: Political Science / Comparative Politics; Political Science / International Relations / Diplomacy