Iran's Grand Strategy
A Political History
Published on 27. May 2025
Book
Hardback
408 pages
978-0-691-26892-7 (ISBN)
Description
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Shia Revival
A gripping account that overturns simplistic portrayals of Iran as a theocratic pariah state, revealing how its strategic moves on the world stage are driven by two pervasive threats-external aggression and internal dissolution
Iran presents one of the most significant foreign policy challenges for America and the West, yet very little is known about what the country's goals really are. Vali Nasr examines Iran's political history in new ways to explain its actions and ambitions on the world stage, showing how, behind the veneer of theocracy and Islamic ideology, today's Iran is pursuing a grand strategy aimed at securing the country internally and asserting its place in the region and the world.
Drawing on memoirs, oral histories, and original in-depth interviews with Iranian decision makers, Nasr brings to light facts and events in Iran's political history that have been overlooked until now. He traces the roots of Iran's strategic outlook to its experiences over the past four decades of war with Iraq in the 1980s and the subsequent American containment of Iran, invasion of Iraq in 2003, and posture toward Iran thereafter. Nasr reveals how these experiences have shaped a geopolitical outlook driven by pervasive fear of America and its plans for the Middle East.
Challenging the notion that Iran's foreign policy simply reflects its revolutionary values or theocratic government, Iran's Grand Strategy provides invaluable new insights into what Iran wants and why, explaining the country's resistance to the United States, its nuclear ambitions, and its pursuit of influence and proxies across the Middle East.
A gripping account that overturns simplistic portrayals of Iran as a theocratic pariah state, revealing how its strategic moves on the world stage are driven by two pervasive threats-external aggression and internal dissolution
Iran presents one of the most significant foreign policy challenges for America and the West, yet very little is known about what the country's goals really are. Vali Nasr examines Iran's political history in new ways to explain its actions and ambitions on the world stage, showing how, behind the veneer of theocracy and Islamic ideology, today's Iran is pursuing a grand strategy aimed at securing the country internally and asserting its place in the region and the world.
Drawing on memoirs, oral histories, and original in-depth interviews with Iranian decision makers, Nasr brings to light facts and events in Iran's political history that have been overlooked until now. He traces the roots of Iran's strategic outlook to its experiences over the past four decades of war with Iraq in the 1980s and the subsequent American containment of Iran, invasion of Iraq in 2003, and posture toward Iran thereafter. Nasr reveals how these experiences have shaped a geopolitical outlook driven by pervasive fear of America and its plans for the Middle East.
Challenging the notion that Iran's foreign policy simply reflects its revolutionary values or theocratic government, Iran's Grand Strategy provides invaluable new insights into what Iran wants and why, explaining the country's resistance to the United States, its nuclear ambitions, and its pursuit of influence and proxies across the Middle East.
Reviews / Votes
"Finalist for the PROSE Award in Government and Politics, Association of American Publishers" "Books like this that can help find method and reason behind the thinking at the highest levels within the Iranian leadership shed a welcome light on a country where what happens in the coming months and years will have implications that extend far beyond the corridors of power in Tehran."---Peter Frankopan, Financial Times "A lot of discussion in the west of what drives Iran's foreign policy struggles to rise above cliches about Islamist fanatics and mad mullahs. Nasr's detailed study, more relevant than ever, draws on a lifetime of research and new interviews, providing a detailed and nuanced account of the mixture of domestic and international imperatives that really drive Iranian policy. The west's understanding of Iran is, he argues, 'hopelessly inadequate and dangerously outdated'."---Gideon Rachman, Financial Times "An admirable primer without hysteria that would make salutary reading for both countries' leadership."---Jude Russo, American Conservative "Iran's Grand Strategy is seriously good, profoundly insightful and full of fresh thinking."---Justin Marozzi, The Standard "Iran's Grand Strategy pushes past the caricature that so often substitutes for analysis of Iran, and seeks to explain the rationale - however flawed - that underpins Iran's regional strategy."---Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi, London Review of Books "If you want to read one book to understand Iran and the role it plays in global politics, this is a worthwhile investment."---Ian Parmeter, Australian Book Review "An Iranian-American scholar with close knowledge of the Islamic Republic, and access to Persian sources, traces how the revolutionary state turned its ideology into a doctrine of regional power, ?dressing up the shah's imperial pretensions in clerical garb." * The Economist * "Based on a rich variety of sources, including Farsi accounts and personal interviews, Iran's Grand Strategy offers an interesting look into the Iranian elite's views. . . . Recommended." * Choice *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New Jersey
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Trade binding
Illustrations
2 maps.
Dimensions
Height: 166 mm
Width: 240 mm
Thickness: 35 mm
Weight
782 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-691-26892-7 (9780691268927)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
03/2025
1st Edition
Princeton University Press
€34.49
Available for download
Person
Vali Nasr is the Majid Khadduri Professor of International Affairs and Middle East Studies at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies. His books include The Dispensable Nation: American Foreign Policy in Retreat, The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future, and (with Ali Gheissari) Democracy in Iran: History and the Quest for Liberty. His writing has appeared in leading publications such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Foreign Affairs.