Iran and the United States: The Rise of the West Asian Regional Grouping

(Hardback)

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A variety of political, economic, social, and security factors have created a situation conducive to the gradual formation of a regional grouping in West Asia. The countries of the Persian Gulf, Caucasus, and Central Asia are gradually gathering around Iran, a rising regional power. Regional and international isolation, sanctions, the Iran-Iraq War, and financial difficulties deprived Iran of its suppliers and forced it to develop itself to meet its needs. Iran has long-term interests in these three neighboring and energy-producing regions where the United States also has strategic interests. Peimani argues that the current unfriendly relations between the two countries are counterproductive for both and damage their interests. They can and must cooperate in these regions as their interests are not opposite and antagonistic, but different and compatible. Their interests require stability in these regions, for which the two should cooperate. As he points out, they must and can normalize their relations, among other factors, to preserve their long-term interests in these regions and elsewhere.

Reviews

.,."a very timely and welcome contribution to the literature on contemporary Iran. It is especially useful for scholars, journalists, and policy makers as Iran continues to rewrite a new chapter in its foreign policy and as U.S.-Iranian relations are showing encouraging signs of a new revivial."-Journal of Third World Studies
...a very timely and welcome contribution to the literature on contemporary Iran. It is especially useful for scholars, journalists, and policy makers as Iran continues to rewrite a new chapter in its foreign policy and as U.S.-Iranian relations are showing encouraging signs of a new revivial.-Journal of Third World Studies
..."a very timely and welcome contribution to the literature on contemporary Iran. It is especially useful for scholars, journalists, and policy makers as Iran continues to rewrite a new chapter in its foreign policy and as U.S.-Iranian relations are showing encouraging signs of a new revivial."-Journal of Third World Studies

Author Bio

HOOMAN PEIMANI is an independent consultant with international agencies in Geneva and does research in international relations. His earlier research and writing has centered on the Persian Gulf, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. Among his earlier publications is Regional Security and the Future of Central Asia: The Competition of Iran, Turkey, and Russia (Praeger, 1998).