"Decoding Iran's Foreign Policy"
Abstract of a recently indexed book
Submitted in February 2025.
The book is “Decoding Iran's Foreign Policy: Strategic Interests, Power and Influence,” in the MEI Policy Series, by Ross Harrison. To be published by Bloomsbury, in August 2025.
In this book, author Ross Harrison cites interviews with key officials, along with other first- and second-hand resources, in his analysis of Iranian foreign policymaking today, exploring how current policy is influenced by historical experiences of interactions and conflicts with regional and global powers. Through his examination of seminal events such as the 1953 coup against Mossadegh, the 1979 Revolution, the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s, and the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the US, and the subsequent American invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the author discusses Iran’s perspective on regional and global politics; he analyzes Iran’s views of itself and its role in the region; and he presents an assessment of Iran’s conventional diplomacy, military, militia-based capabilities. Throughout his analysis, the author ties in discussion of how influential factors such as historical memory, ideology, and pragmatism play a role in Iranian leaders’ worldviews, strategic decision-making, and potential futures.