Bitter Friends, Bosom Enemies: Iran, the U.S., and the Twisted Path to Confrontation [Paperback]

Barbara Slavin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 6, 2009

In Bitter Friends, Bosom Enemies, Barbara Slavin untangles the love-hate relationship between Iran and the United States that has brought the two countries to the brink of war. Slavin reveals that relations between Washington and Tehran have been riddled with contradictions for decades and details missed opportunities for reconciliation under both the Clinton and Bush administrations, including diplomatic rebuffs to Iran in Bush’s first term based on the mistaken belief that the U.S. invasion of Iraq would weaken Iran's Islamic government.  On e of the few reporters to interview high-profile Iranian officials, including Iran’s current and last two presidents,  Slavin describes all the key constituencies in Iran society from the clerics, to the Revolutionary Guards, to reformers and Iranian youth. She unveils Iran and shows it to be a country that both adores and fears the United States. Despite government propaganda that portrays the U.S. as the "Great Satan," many Iranians have come to idolize staples of American pop culture while holding on to their own traditions. The United States, on the other hand, has demonized Iran as a member of an “axis of evil” that supports terrorists and represses its own people who, in the words of U.S. officials, “deserve better.”  As Iran moves toward becoming a nuclear power, Slavin believes that the power brokers in Washington may be suffering from the same lack of understanding and foresight that led the U.S. into prolonged warfare in Iraq. Distrustful of each other's intentions yet longing at some level to reconcile, neither Tehran nor Washington knows how this story will end. Anyone interested in understanding the dynamics of this pivotal international relationship will find Bitter Friends, Bosom Enemies a crucial and compelling read.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The American-Iranian relationship has been fraught for years—indeed, for far longer than most Americans realize—USA Today diplomatic correspondent Slavin shows. Interweaving history with current events, she demonstrates how decades-old American perfidy continues to color Iranian expectations, much as the 1979 hostage crisis continues to affect Americans today. Without losing sight of the brutality with which the Islamic Republic was established—and is often maintained—Slavin skillfully presents its surprisingly multifaceted culture and political establishment, where mullahs are sometimes on the side of reform, and Western-minded businessmen might support systematic corruption and repression. The driving theme, however, is one of decades of missed opportunities, on both sides, to achieve rapprochement. Providing little-known details of the various contacts and arguments both between and within the American and Iranian leaderships, Slavin argues that the Bush administration badly misjudged Iran's leadership; by the time it offered to talk with Iran about its nuclear program, Iran had been so emboldened by other U.S. policies that it felt little pressure or inclination to accept. This articulate study helps clear the fog between two nations that have long and systematically demonized each other. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Praise for Bitter Friends, Bosom Enemies
 
"Rarely has a book been more necessary or more timely. Drawing on decades of experience in the Middle East, Barbara Slavin has produced a masterful study of today's Iran. From the dusty streets of Qum to the highest government offices, Slavin has used her finely honed reporter's instinct to gain access to every level of Iranian society. Often surprising, always accessible, it is an indispensible book for anyone concerned with the direction of United States foreign policy."-- Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer-Prize winning author of March
 
Praise for Barbara Slavin
 
"Barbara Slavin has had a unique opportunity to follow the difficult recent history of the United States and Iran and extraordinary access to high-level officials on both sides. She is a seasoned journalist and foreign policy expert whose insights about Iran should help Americans understand Iran and U.S. options for dealing with a fascinating, complicated, and crucial country."--Madeleine Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State
 
"Barbara Slavin is uniquely qualified to address in-depth and with insight a uniquely complex and significant challenge facing U.S. foreign policy."  --Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski, former U.S. National Security Advisor
 
 "I know Barbara Slavin as an accomplished, well-sourced journalist, who not only has a way with written words, but is equally eloquent when discussing foreign affairs during her frequent appearances on television."--Caryle Murphy, Washington Post reporter and author of Passion for Islam

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; First Edition edition (January 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312384912
• ISBN-13: 978-0312384913
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #505,810 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Accessible Truth, October 23, 2007

By 

Intrepid Liberal Journal "Intrepid Liberal Jo... (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bitter Friends, Bosom Enemies: Iran, the U.S., and the Twisted Path to Confrontation (Hardcover)

How many Americans know how the Iranian system of government works? Are Americans aware that Iran's population is mostly under thirty and restless? Do Americans realize that Iran is more complex than their mere portrayal as an Islamic fascist state? One wonders if Americans have thought about the internal dynamics of Iranian society? Sadly, most Americans don't realize that a hunger for democratic reform exists in Iranian society and war will likely only rally their people to the regime which oppresses them.

Our newspapers, television, radio and online sources are busy quoting outrageous statements from the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and America's fear about their nuclear program. Jingoistic sound-bites on both sides have dwarfed sensible, thoughtful and fact based commentary.

Thankfully, Barbara Slavin has written a book that presents a holistic view we Americans are typically not exposed too. Using her remarkable access to people such as Madeline Albright, Condelezza Rice, Iranian reformers like former President Mohammad Khatami, longtime establishment figures such as Ali Rafsanjani, as well as dissidents like Akbar Ganji and everyday citizens, allows Slavin to shed sunlight on a nation most Americans know very little about. She was the first newspaper journalist to interview Iranian President Ahmadinejad.

We also learn about the tantalizing opportunities for reconciliation not seized by three successive American administrations.

Overall, Slavin's prose is anecdotal but fact based. Her book makes truth accessible and truth about Iran has been in short supply. Hopefully, her book will also make truth fashionable again.

For more information about Slavin's book and insights into Iran, listen to a podcast interview I had with her at the weblog, Intrepid Liberal Journal.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Reading, October 22, 2007

By 

Ross MS (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bitter Friends, Bosom Enemies: Iran, the U.S., and the Twisted Path to Confrontation (Hardcover)

With all the mounting talk about a possible war with Iran, "Bitter Friends and Bosom Enemies" is a must read for anyone concerned about the misguided direction of the current Administration's foreign policies. The author has obviously spent a lot of time in Iran and she takes the reader there with her in this insightful, lively and well-written book. Much is written in the news these days about the threat Iran poses, but little if any of it explains why. This book helps to fill that gap, increasing the reader's understanding of the country, its people and, as the author puts it, the complicated "square dance" of Iranian politics. Most importantly for Americans, it shows how the clash of two faith-based foreign policies--Tehran's and Washington's--is setting our two countries on a tragic and needless path to confrontation. Highly recommended!

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Diplomatic challenge and failure, December 15, 2007

By 

K.S.Ziegler (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bitter Friends, Bosom Enemies: Iran, the U.S., and the Twisted Path to Confrontation (Hardcover)

This book is a timely journalistic account that provides some insight into the enigma of Iran. During the late 70s Iran rose to the top of the news in the United States when as a reaction to the Westernizing influences of the Shah, Ayatollah Khomeini rose to power, referred to the U.S. as the "Great Satan", American hostages were taken, and Iranians demonstrated in the streets chanting "death to America". There followed a period of relative silence during which Iran tried to mend itself after the ravages of the Iran-Iraq War and then actually reform itself during the Khatami presidency. Lately, it has risen again to prominence in the news, this time as the bugaboo of the Bush Administration, as part of the "axis of evil".

The author made a series of visits to Iran starting in 1996, and has structured this book principally on the basis of her observations, interviews with Iranian and American officials, and talks with ordinary Iranians. What we get here is a picture of a country that has a very tangled government - the author compares it to an American square dance - in which the ultimate arbiter is the supreme religious leader, the Ayatollah Khamenei. Though some change has occurred (notably during Khatami's presidency and as a result of globalization) and there are some democratic elements, Iran is still a very long way from having any clear separation between the state and an authoritarian religion. The Shiite form of Islam dominates and tries to extend its influence to other parts of the Middle East such as Iraq and Lebanon. The Iranian city of Qom, the "mullah factory", is along with Najaf in Iraq the center of Shiite Islam; and is described as something like a medieval enclave where religious law is rigorously taught and applied. This religion is steeped in the masculine Old Testament tradition of the desert, in which woman are largely excluded. It's myths feature the twelfth Imam, a Messianic figure who will return some day to save believers.

During the Clinton Administration diplomatic overtures were made to Iran, small steps taken with quite a lot of discretion in view of terrorist acts attributed to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Those overtures gained momentum when President Khatami took office and the "death to America" signs started coming down. After 9/11 Iran responded with sympathy and held candlelight vigils, unlike other Islamic countries. At that point, the United States had much in common with Iran: Saddam Hussein and the Taliban were both mutual enemies; Iran had fought a war against Saddam and almost gone to war with the Taliban. And, in fact, Iran cooperated with the U.S. aims in Afghanistan and provided assistance to the Northern Alliance in turning back the Taliban. It could have been a perfect time to establish diplomatic relations, but the Bush Administration was too busy exerting its dominance. Bush proceeded to label Iran as part of an "axis of evil". Then, the Administration squandered an opportunity for peaceful engagement when they rejected an Iranian initiative in 2003. Instead of an ally they now had an enemy whom they empowered by taking out a common enemy Saddam and freeing the Iraqi Shiites. The occupation of Iraq also convinced the Iranians that the U.S. only had belligerent intentions, and that they were quite probably next on the list of countries to be invaded. With that threat at their door, they elected the right wing hardliner Ahmadinejad, who has since denied the Holocaust and threatened the development of nuclear technology, and who sees the world in the narrow way that the American President does when he says that countries are either with us or against us. So, here we have two leaders on opposite sides, but both convinced that they are on the side of the forces of light against the forces of darkness, as in the old Persian Zoroastrian myth.