Reset: Iran, Turkey, and America's Future [Hardcover]

Stephen Kinzer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 8, 2010

The bestselling author of Overthrow offers a new and surprising vision for rebuilding America's strategic partnerships in the Middle East

What can the United States do to help realize its dream of a peaceful, democratic Middle East? Stephen Kinzer offers a surprising answer in this paradigm-shifting book. Two countries in the region, he argues, are America's logical partners in the twenty-first century: Turkey and Iran.

Besides proposing this new "power triangle," Kinzer also recommends that the United States reshape relations with its two traditional Middle East allies, Israel and Saudi Arabia. This book provides a penetrating, timely critique of America's approach to the world's most volatile region, and offers a startling alternative.

Kinzer is a master storyteller with an eye for grand characters and illuminating historical detail. In this book he introduces us to larger-than-life figures, like a Nebraska schoolteacher who became a martyr to democracy in Iran, a Turkish radical who transformed his country and Islam forever, and a colorful parade of princes, politicians, women of the world, spies, oppressors, liberators, and dreamers.

Kinzer's provocative new view of the Middle East is the rare book that will richly entertain while moving a vital policy debate beyond the stale alternatives of the last fifty years.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Kinzer (Overthrow), columnist at the Guardian, takes an iconoclastic approach in this smart policy prescriptive that calls for elemental changes in America's relationships with Israel and Saudi Arabia, and even more remarkably, for the U.S. to find more sensible and natural allies in Turkey and Iran, the only Muslim countries in the Middle East where democracy is deeply rooted. This radical break from diplomatic convention has its roots deep in the cold war history that Kinzer spends most of the book attentively mining. When he's corralling Middle Eastern history, Kinzer does an excellent job at stitching essential facts into a coherent and telling whole, demonstrating why, for instance, Turkey's recent return to greater religiosity is a victory against Islamist policies and how Israel's willingness to do America's dirty work (e.g., selling arms to Guatemala's military regime) tied the U.S. to Israel and Saudi Arabia so powerfully in the past. He's less successful in analysis, though, and is prone to repetition; this astute book builds toward convincing new ideas, but doesn't provide the necessary scaffolding to hold them up. (June)
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Review

“Fresh and well-informed. . . . Kinzer argues persuasively that despite their very different governments -- one friendly and free, the other hostile and theocratic -- both Turkey and Iran are host to vibrant democratic traditions that make them natural long-term partners of the United States. . . . [A] lively, character-driven approach to history.”--The Washington Post

 

“Because we’re so accustomed to bad news out of the Middle East, trouble seems inevitable. Reset suggests that needn’t be so. But can anybody hear its lucid, historically grounded points above the shouting and the gunfire?”—Chicago Tribune

 

“At once a stern critique of American foreign policy and a concise, colorful, and compelling modern history of Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. A former journalist for The New York Times and The Boston Globe, Kinzer is a masterful storyteller. His cast of characters leaps off the page… Kinzer makes a compelling case… that the road to peace in the Middle East runs through Ankara and Tehran, not Jerusalem.”—NPR.org

 

“In Reset, [Kinzer] proposes a radical new course for the United States in the region. The United States, he argues, needs to partner with Iran and Turkey to create a ‘powerful triangle’ whose activities would promote a culture of democracy and combat extremism. . . . Kinzer’s U.S.-Iranian-Turkish alliance is a long-term project, and the idea has ample grounding in the modern history of the region. Unlike other Muslim countries there, Kinzer shows, Iran and Turkey have at last a century’s worth of experience struggling for political freedom . . . [and] share some fundamental values with the United States.”--Foreign Affairs

 

“The main message is intriguing.” – The Economist

 

“An original, unsettling critique . . . [and] an imaginative solution to the Middle-East stalemate.”—Kirkus Reviews

 

“Kinzer re-imagines the world and America’s role in it.”—Robert Lacey, author of Inside the Kingdom: Kings, Clerics, Terrorists, Modernists, and the Struggle for Saudi Arabia

 

“Stephen Kinzer’s deep knowledge of the Middle East is complemented by his lucid style and new ideas. He sees Turkey as a key state for the region and the world, suggests new and innovative ways to deal with Saudi Arabia and Iran, and calls for the United States to play a much more robust and determined role in the Arab-Israeli peace process. His historical perspective and trenchant analysis make Reset an informative read for experts and newcomers alike.”—Thomas R. Pickering, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and under secretary of state for political affairs

 

“Stephen Kinzer’s Reset argues that contradictory U.S. policies in the Middle East are producing serial disasters. He recounts with verve the dramatic historical events and the vivid personalities that brought us to these straits, and argues for a new realism about the rapid rise of Iran and Turkey as regional superpowers challenging the old, dysfunctional bargains struck in the twentieth century. This book is a must-read for anyone concerned with the future of the United States in the Middle East.”—Juan Cole, professor of history, University of Michigan, and author of Napoleon’s Egypt and Engaging the Muslim World

 

“I read and relished Stephen Kinzer’s Reset – kudos to him for approaching the enduring problem of the Middle East in a fresh way. Even old hands may learn something new in these fluent, timely, and provocative pages.”—Karl E. Meyer, coauthor of Tournament of Shadows and Kingmakers: The Invention of the Modern Middle East

 

“Does the United States have nothing but bad choices in the Middle East? Stephen Kinzer says we have attractive choices if our leaders will just abandon the premises of the Cold War and look instead at opportunities in front of their eyes. Kinzer elaborates grand ideas in the conversational voice of a story-teller and challenges conventional wisdom in the most reasonable tones. But let the reader beware: He will make you think, and you may never see the region in quite the same way again.”—Gary Sick, senior research scholar, Columbia University, and author of All Fall Down: America’s Tragic Encounter with Iran

 

“A vivid account underscoring the persistent folly of Western, and especially U.S. policy in the Middle East. This is history with bite and immediacy. Yet Stephen Kinzer sees cause for hope: The possibility of change exists if we but seize it.”—Andrew J. Bacevich, author of The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Times Books; 1 edition (June 8, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805091270
• ISBN-13: 978-0805091274
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #263,174 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stephen Kinzer was Istanbul bureau chief for The New York Times and is now that paper's national cultural correspondent. He is the author of Blood of Brothers and co-author of Bitter Fruit: The Untold Story of the American Coup in Guatemala. He lives in Chicago.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kinzer's Bold Proposition, June 16, 2010

By 

Jeffrey Kostoff "Jeff Kostoff" (Gatihersburg, MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Reset: Iran, Turkey, and America's Future (Hardcover)

Stephen Kinzer's Reset provides a great short history of Iran and Turkey in the 20th and early 21st centuries. Most importantly, he provides a narrative to outline a different approach in the Middle East and the greater Muslim world. After two disastrous attempts at democracy from the barrel of a gun in Iraq and Afghanistan, US policymakers should take a long hard look at both Turkey and Iran as two Muslim nations that have been struggling to both modernize and create their own democratic structures and traditions.

Most importantly, Kinzer painfully describes the counterproductive results of the last 50+ years of US foreign policy. His descriptions of Saudi funding for US Cold War dalliances, and Israel's willingness to sell arms to the most repressive elements of Central America when Congress forbid Reagan to do so, are chilling. His solutions are to create more rational and less permissive relations with Israel and Saudi Arabia, solve the Israeli/Palestinian conflict along the line of UN 242 and the Fulbright Plan, and to recognize and court Turkey as a regional bridge nation. He outlines a gradual approach with Iran to strengthen the democratic elements within that country on their own internal terms without intervention.

The timing of this book might be strained by recent the events of the Israeli/IHH flotilla travesty, and the recent "toughest sanctions ever" on Iran. However, any student of American Foreign Policy in the Middle East needs to read this book. His bibliography provides a great resource for deeper reading as well. While this book is based on solid research and academics, it is clearly written and intended for a wide audience. A great and important book.

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good history, naive policy, June 17, 2010

By 

Enjolras (Springfield, MA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Reset: Iran, Turkey, and America's Future (Hardcover)

Mr. Kinzer sure has good timing. Reset: Iran, Turkey, and America's Future came out just as Turkey and Iran dominated the news. Turkey in particular has drawn more attention than it has in many years. Kinzer's Reset is a great read for anybody interested in the region and the importance of these two countries for U.S. foreign policy.

Kinzer's argument is that both Turkey and Iran have experience with democratic politics and would make better allies for the U.S. than our current Middle East partners - Israel and Saudi Arabia. He summarizes the history of politics in Turkey and Iran, as well as our foreign policy mistakes (particularly the overthrow of Iran's only truly democratic government, chronicled in Kinzer's excellent All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror).

Reset is written for the general public and policymakers, so Kinzer covers just enough history to inform readers unfamiliar with the region. This might make it a bit shallow for scholars who have a good grounding in the politics of these countries (or those who have read Kinzer's Crescent and Star: Turkey Between Two Worlds). Nonetheless, he does manage to throw in some anecdotes and facts that will probably surprise even longtime Middle East watchers (this was the first time I had heard any details about Iran's "grand bargain" offer to the Bush administration in late 2001).

Kinzer is not a foreign policy specialist and I found his policy prescriptions somewhat naive. As much as I would love the U.S. to initiate a strategic realignment and ally with Iran and Turkey, this is would be incredibly difficult. The domestic politics in all three countries make this unlikely - in the U.S. for example, the The Israel Lobby is simply too strong. Through U.S. government securities and oil, Saudi Arabia has too much influence over our economy to make such a move politically feasible in the current recession. Moreover, Kinzer provides few details as to how we would actually go about normalizing relations with Iran.

Kinzer cites the example of Nixon in China, but there are differences. First, there was a major geostrategic imperative, namely to balance against the Soviet Union. Second, Nixon has "street cred" as an anti-communist crusader, so he possessed at least some political cover from the natural critics of Communist China, namely those conservatives like Ronald Reagan. Finally, U.S. foreign policy could be conducted in at least some secrecy before the post-Watergate reforms. Kissinger made secret trips to China through Pakistan, something inconceivable in the age of Twitter (imagine Hillary Clinton trying to visit Tehran secretly by going through Riyadh).

Ultimately, I hope many Americans read this book and gain a more nuanced understanding of the Middle East and U.S. foreign policy. The U.S. does need to reset its policy in the region, and I do hope U.S. foreign policymakers heed Kinzer's advice. However, Kinzer doesn't provide a detailed roadmap, and as such I'm skeptical that we'll be wise enough to actually Reset our policy.

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read!, December 3, 2011

By 

Ata Alijani "rad84" (Liverpool, NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Reset: Iran, Turkey, and America's Future (Hardcover)

I highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in the events in the Middle East and its relations with the U.S. but does not fully know the history nor the complex variables playing out between the four major players (Iran, Israel, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia). Once we know the facts, listening or watching the news in the main stream media appears much superficial and distorted.