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

by James G. Blight (Author), janet M. Lang (Author), Hussein Banai Assistant Professor of Diplomacy and World Affairs at Occidental College (Author),

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Editorial Reviews

Review

[This] book is a very useful source on the Iran–Iraq war, adding a wealth of useful material that was not available before. One of its central themes – that of ‘missed opportunities’ in US–Iranian relations – is also well-taken and critical to an understanding of the topic., European Political Science

By applying an innovative methodology ("critical oral history"), by engaging some of the most authoritative voices on the subject matter in a well-informed, candid, and insightful dialogue, and through their own trenchant analyses, the authors of this groundbreaking work provide a fresh perspective on the mindsets, misperceptions, and misguided policies by Iran, Iraq, and the United States, that helped start and prolong what became one of the bloodiest regional wars in the latter half of the twentieth century. For policymakers, scholars, and students pondering the causes of the enduring enmities and mistrust between Iran and the United States today, this book is a must read.
-- Ali Banuazizi, Boston College and past president, Middle East Studies Association

An elegantly written treasure trove of fascinating, forgotten, and previously unrevealed history. For those seeking to understand the roots of modern enmity between the U.S. and Iran, Becoming Enemies is a truly unique and wonderful resource.
-- Karim Sadjadpour, Carnegie Endowment

A fascinating, eye-opening book about the players and politics of the Iran-Iraq war and the war's domestic and foreign policy repercussions whose effects continue to resonate today.
-- Haleh Esfandiari, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Becoming Enemies provides a unique and unrivalled insight into the framing of U.S. policy toward the Iran-Iraq war and the roots of the contemporary American-Iranian antagonism. The innovative approach of critical oral history yields penetrating insights into how policy-makers and officials understood events at the time and in hindsight. This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand recent U.S. policy in the Middle East.
-- Nigel J. Ashton, London School of Economics and Political Science

Too often, Americans seem eager to do things rather than to understand things. For those who wish to understand, this book offers invaluable insights about the world's most dysfunctional relationship. By explaining a key episode in the long conflict between Iran and the United States, it presents invaluable insights. Whether Americans are willing to consider them could make the difference between war and peace. -- Stephen Kinzer, author of Crescent and Star: Turkey Between Two Worlds

The roots of all of America’s current problems with Iraq and Iran lie in our conduct during the Iran-Iraq War. Becoming Enemies provides a profound understanding into that experience. It is a fascinating story, and by presenting it in the words of those who crafted the policy, it gives the reader a rare “fly-on-the-wall” perspective on how American policy gets made, and how the United States got itself into the mess it is in today in the Persian Gulf.
-- Kenneth M. Pollack, author of The Persian Puzzle: The Conflict Between Iran and America and Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness, 1948-1991

In this brilliant and disturbing book, America’s foreign policy toward the Islamic Republic of Iran in the 1980s is told, for the first time, from deep inside the U.S. decision making apparatus of the Carter and Reagan administrations. It is a sobering tale of Washington’s misperceptions, ignorance and arrogance drawing on newly declassified documentation and oral testimony from key participants, who struggle to come to grips with how and why the U.S. rallied behind one of the twentieth century’s most brutal despots, Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, in his war with Ayatollah Khomeini’s Iran, thereby sowing the seeds of bitter U.S.-Iranian enmity that exists to this day.
-- Patrick Tyler, former Middle East correspondent for The New York Times and The Washington Post

During the calamitous decade following the fall of the Pahlavi regime the Carter and Reagan administrations struggled to reorient the U.S. policy to a Middle East where a central geopolitical pillar had been upended. This was a decade of enormous violence and confusion, and a period when mutual enmity and suspicion were deeply gouged into the collective minds of the Iranian and U.S. political elite. This novel and commendably lucid volume draws on a trove of declassified documents, as well as top scholars and policy experts to offer fresh accounts of defining episodes of the decade. The often enlightening give-and-take of scholars, diplomats and officials, several of whom played leading roles during this fateful period, lends authenticity to the authors' assessments. Given the dangers that continue to haunt U.S.-Iran relations, Becoming Enemies could not be more urgent to read and ponder. -- Augustus Richard Norton, Boston University

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.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Rowman & Littlefield Publishers; Reprint edition (February 25, 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 408 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1442208317
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1442208315
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.35 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.9 x 1.02 x 8.9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,211,475 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #259 in International Political Treaties
- #1,049 in Iran History
- #1,241 in Middle Eastern History (Books)

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mmm

An incredibly fascinating book!

Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2015

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For those who want to step back and ponder how we and Iran arrived at a state of distrust and antipathy, this is a real MUST READ. It "is the edited and annotated transcript" of a 2008 conference of scholars with former officials from the U.S., U.N., and Iran -- using pertinent declassified documents from 1979-1988. The participants received the written material prior to the conference at which they were asked to discuss the documents, their memories of the events, any surprises, and their more mature judgements. The transcripts reveal more surprises and revelations than the last issue of Vanity Fair!

Not only did President Reagan and Co. sell arms to Iran while the U.S. was supporting Iraq, Israel sold arms and equipment to Iran throughout the war! When the U.S. knew for certain that Iraq was using chemical weapons against the Kurds and the Iranians, we and the U.N did nothing, except that U.S. Intelligence services continued to assist Saddam Hussein in pinpoint gassing! And we blamed Iran for the gas attacks! Can we honestly think Iran had NO reason to try to develop nuclear weapons at the war's conclusion?

I have naively preferred to think of us in the past as the GOOD GUYS. Support of chemical warfare, lies, false accusations -- these are not the acts of good guys.

This book persuades me that the actions toward a permanent nuclear agreement are the moral path of those trying hard to be good guys, trying to restore trust, and loyal to the best interests of the U.S. and of the Middle East's most stable and sane country. My sincere gratitude to President Obama,John Kerry, Ernest Moniz, to the P5, and to the Supreme Leader and his Merry Band for laying out a path to hope. I hope that Bibi Netanyahu and HIS Band of Neoconservatives, and their good friend Tom Cotton, spew their venom this time in vain.

This is a page-turner for sure!