Synopses & Reviews
A leading expert explains why we fail to understand Iran and offers a new strategy for redefining this crucial relationship
For more than a quarter of a century, few countries have been as resistant to American influence or understanding as Iran. The United States and Iran have long eyed each other with suspicion, all too eager to jump to conclusions and slam the door. What gets lost along the way is a sense of what is actually happening inside Iran and why it matters. With a new hard-line Iranian president making incendiary pronouncements and pressing for nuclear developments, the consequences of not understanding Iran have never been higher.
Ray Takeyh, a leading expert on Iran's politics and history, has written a groundbreaking book that demystifies the Iranian regime and shows how the fault lines of Iran's domestic politics serve to explain its behavior. In Hidden Iran, he explains why this country has so often confounded American expectations and why its outward hostility does not necessarily preclude the normalization of relations. Through a clearer understanding of the competing claims of Muslim theology, republican pragmatism, and factional competition, he offers a new paradigm for managing our relations with this rising power. Ray Takeyh is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, where he concentrates his work on Iran, Islamist movements, and Middle Eastern politics. He has held positions at the National Defense University, Yale, and Berkeley. His work has appeared in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Financial Times, and the International Herald Tribune. He lives in Washington, D.C. For more than a quarter of a century, few countries have been as resistant to American influence or understanding as Iran. The United States and Iran have long eyed each other with suspicion, all too eager to jump to conclusions and slam the door. What gets lost along the way is a sense of what is actually happening inside Iran and why it matters. With a new hard-line Iranian president making incendiary pronouncements and pressing for nuclear developments, the consequences of not understanding Iran have never been higher. In Hidden Iran, Takeyh reveals how the underappreciated domestic political rivalries within Iran serve to explain the country's behavior on the world stage. He also shows why this country has so often confounded American expectations and inspired a long series of misguided U.S. policies that continue to this day. And yet there is a hidden Iran beyond what we see on the news or hear about from American politicians, one in which political factions jockey for power and influence, politicians fall out of favor only to reemerge a few years later, and the hard-liners, the pragmatists, and the reformers tend to counterbalance one another in the government. Takeyh introduces us to the leading players on all sides and shows how the game of political chess is played in Iran. Much of the saber rattling that so alarms outsiders, he shows, serves primarily to shore up wavering domestic support; in fact, the current nuclear standoff features an inside-outside dynamic similar to the hostage crisis of 1979-81, which Ayatollah Khomeini used to divide his political opponents and secure his own power. Takeyh explains the Iranian view of the world, which transcends political affiliation, and the prominent role the country seeks to play in the Persian Gulf region, in the wider Muslim world, and in relation to its neighbors in Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. He also offers insight into Iran's tumultuous bilateral relations with Iraq, Israel, and the United States, showing how the U.S. invasion of iraq has actually put Iran in its strongest strategic position since the first days of the revolution. Hidden Iran points toward a new way of managing America's relationship with Iran, making the case that the countries' differing worldviews need not lead inexorably to conflict. Hidden Iran addresses the fundamental questions that plague policy officials (and ordinary citizens) in the West . . . A skillful policy brief, written in a smooth, graceful style that is accessible.--Gary Sick, Foreign Affairs We really haven't understood Iran since the rise of the Islamic Republic. Much of what is said and written about it these days is grounded in emotion, ideology, or wishful thinking. But Ray Takeyh know the country--the culture, and the language--and adds to these strengths an acute mind. The result is a book of facts, logic, and analysis. It is the single best guide to understanding modern Iran.--Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International and author of The Future of Freedom Takeyh has written a shrewd, timely guide to Iran's schisms, interests and ambitions, as well as offering a bracing and often nicely acerbic look at U.S.-Iranian relations.--Warren Bass, The Washington Post An important and timely insight into the complexities of contemporary Iran, which not only refutes the simplistic and warmongering slogans about Iran of those who recently pushed America into the war with Iraq but also points the way to a more constructive relationship.--Zbigniew with, former national security advisor and author of The Choice: Global Domination or Global Leadership Ray Takeyh is one of the best of the new generation of Middle East scholars and anything he writes on the topic of Iran is automatically a must-read. With Hidden Iran, he has given us a concise, penetrating account of contemporary Tehran that answers the questions that every American ponders in the midst of our latest confrontation with the Islamic Republic.--Kenneth Pollack, author of The Persian Puzzle: The Conflict Between Iran and America Ray Takeyh has written an excellent book untangling both Iran's internal politics and its equally complex relations with the outside world, especially the United States. This succinct and coolh
Review
"Savvy and accessible . . . Takeyh has written a shrewd, timely guide to Iran's schisms, interests and ambitions, as well as offering a bracing and often nicely acerbic look at U.S.-Iranian relations."
--Warren Bass, The Washington Post Book World
"Hidden Iran is a skillful policy brief, written in a smooth, graceful style that is accessible to nonspecialists. Takeyh does not underestimate how difficult it is for the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America to find ways of dealing with each other, but he demonstrates persuasively that a policy of more of the same will only produce more of the same."
--Gary Sick, Foreign Affairs
Synopsis
A leading expert explains why we fail to understand Iran and offers a new strategy for redefining this crucial relationshipFor more than a quarter of a century, few countries have been as resistant to American influence or understanding as Iran. The United States and Iran have long eyed each other with suspicion, all too eager to jump to conclusions and slam the door. What gets lost along the way is a sense of what is actually happening inside Iran and why it matters. With a new hard-line Iranian president making incendiary pronouncements and pressing for nuclear developments, the consequences of not understanding Iran have never been higher.
Ray Takeyh, a leading expert on Iran's politics and history, has written a groundbreaking book that demystifies the Iranian regime and shows how the fault lines of Iran's domestic politics serve to explain its behavior. In Hidden Iran, he explains why this country has so often confounded American expectations and why its outward hostility does not necessarily preclude the normalization of relations. Through a clearer understanding of the competing claims of Muslim theology, republican pragmatism, and factional competition, he offers a new paradigm for managing our relations with this rising power.
Synopsis
"Savvy and accessible . . . A shrewd, timely guide to Iran's schisms, interests and ambitions."--The Washington Post Book World In Hidden Iran, leading Middle East expert Ray Takeyh demystifies the Iranian regime and shows how this pivotal country's internal conflicts have produced its belligerent international posture, especially toward the United States. With President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pushing the development of a nuclear program, making a play for regional preeminence, and stirring up anti-Israel sentiment, the consequences of not understanding Iran have never been higher. Takeyh explains why this country continues to confound American expectations and offers a new paradigm for managing our relations with this rising power--at a time when getting Iran right has become increasingly urgent for America.
About the Author
Ray Takeyh is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, where he concentrates his work on Iran, Islamist movements, and Middle Eastern politics. He has held positions at the National Defense University, Yale, and Berkeley. His work has appeared in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Financial Times, and the International Herald Tribune.
He lives in Washington, D.C.