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

by Blight, James G.; Lang, janet M.; Banai, Hussein; Byrne, Malcolm; Tirman, John; Riedel, Bruce

• ISBN13: 9781442208308
• ISBN10: 1442208309
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-05-03
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

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 Iraq-Iran 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 of 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.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
The United States and Iran: How "The Enemy Has Become Our Masterpiece"
Prologue: Kierkegaard in the Desert: A Reader's Guide to Becoming Enemies	p. 3
Dramatis Personae: Who's Who at the Musgrove Conference	p. 19
How It Came to This: The Evolution of Dueling U.S. and Iranian Narratives	p. 25
The Musgrove Conference: A Critical Oral History of the Origins of U.S.-Iranian Enmity
The United States Confronts the Islamic Republic: The Origins of Enmity, 1979-1982	p. 55
The U.S. Tilt toward Iraq: A Strategy for Avoiding a "Middle Eastern Armageddon"	p. 95
"A World-Class Rogues' Gallery of Liars and Crooks": The Iran-Contra Affair	p. 125
"This Huge Crescendo of Pressures": Iraqi Resurgence in 1988 and Iranian Preparation for War with the United States	p. 151
Khomeini Drinks the "Hemlock": How the UN Facilitated the End of the War	p. 195
Revelations, Perspectives, and Interpretations
Missed Opportunities? The Virtual History of U.S.-Iran Relations during the Iran-Iraq War	p. 227
Epilogue: Takeaways: What Did We Learn from the Musgrove Dialogues?	p. 253
Chronology: The Iran-Iraq War, 1980-1988	p. 287
Annotated Excerpts from Declassified Documents	p. 297
Acknowledgments	p. 351
Notes	p. 355
Acronyms	p. 371
Index	p. 373
About the Authors	p. 393
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