Publisher Description

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last shah of Iran, is often remembered as a pliant instrument of American power during the Cold War. In this groundbreaking study Roham Alvandi offers a revisionist account of the shah's relationship with the United States by examining the partnership he forged with Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger in the 1970s. Based on extensive research in the British and U.S. archives, as well as a wealth of Persian-language diaries, memoirs, and oralhistories, this work restores agency to the shah as an autonomous international actor and suggests that Iran evolved from a client to a partner of the United States under the Nixon Doctrine.Nixon, Kissinger, and the Shah offers a detailed account of three key historical episodes in the Nixon-Kissinger-Pahlavi partnership that shaped the global Cold War far beyond Iran's borders. It examines the emergence of Iranian primacy in the Persian Gulf as the Nixon administration looked to the shah to fill the vacuum created by the British withdrawal from the region in 1971. It then turns to the peak of the partnership after Nixon and Kissinger's historic 1972visit to Iran, when the shah succeeded in drawing the United States into his covert war against Iraq in Kurdistan. Finally, it focuses on the decline of the partnership under Nixon's successor, Gerald Ford,through a history of the failed negotiations from 1974 to 1976 for an agreement on U.S. nuclear exports to Iran. Taken together, these episodes map the rise of the fall of Iran's Cold War partnership with the United States during the decade of superpower détente, Vietnam, and Watergate.This work of American diplomatic history, international relations, and Middle Eastern Studies provides critical historic background on Iran's ambitions for primacy in the PersianGulf, its nuclear program, and what a US-Iran strategic partnership might look like in the future.

Author Biography

Roham Alvandi is Assistant Professor of International History at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Table of Contents

AcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. The United States and Iran in the Cold War2. "Protect Me": The Nixon Doctrine in the Persian Gulf3. Iran's Secret War with Iraq: The CIA and the Shah-Forsaken Kurds4. A Ford, Not a Nixon: The United States and the Shah's Nuclear DreamsConclusionBibliographyIndex

Review

"Meticulously researched and expertly crafted, it is a model of first-rate international history The book also has striking relevance to understanding how the current alignment of forces in the region came about."--Journal of Cold War Studies"In Nixon, Kissinger, and the Shah Roham Alvandi examines the intimate relationship that developed among three 1970s cold warriors: President Richard M. Nixon, Henry Kissinger, and Iranian shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi....[Alvandi] provides a unique case study of thepower of individual leaders and the strength of such relationships in international relations, as well as the consequences--good or bad--of forming policy without the scrutiny of government agencies or public opinion."--Journal of American History"Roham Alvandi...has given us a beautifully written and thoroughly researched account of the 'special relationship' between the Nixon Administration and the Shah during the early 1970s..."--The Middle East Journal"[An] enlightening new book [that] offers a timely revisionist approach to one of themost misunderstood bilateral relationships of modern times...As scholars continue to sift through the archives, this book and others like it are challenging conventional thinking by offering a more rounded and mature discussion of U.S.-Iran relations under the last shah."--Journal of Interdisciplinary History"Knowledge of the 1970s, when Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was one of Washington's closest global allies, is essential for anyone wishing to understand why it is so difficult for the US and Iran to overcome their differences. Alvandi throws new light on the period by showing that Iran's last shah was more than just President Richard Nixon's cat's paw in the Middle East."--Tony Barber, Financial Times (Chosen for the Financial Times's "Summer Books"list)"Dispensing with older historiographies that denude Middle Eastern leaders of individual agency, Alvandi's contribution breathes life into great-man history and the power of personality...[A] well-written account of personality-driven politics against the backdrop of the Cold War. Alvandi's book surveys a broad swath of time and place. But the power of this volume remains centered in its story: the promise and plight of nations as a result of the men who ledthem."--Behnam Ben Taleblu, War on the Rocks blog"This is an important and ground-breaking book on an often misunderstood period in Middle East history and U.S.-Iran relations. Roham Alvandi draws on fresh historical sources to provide an incisive corrective in his in-depth look into how the United States and Iran formulated foreign policy and forged a partnership to manage the Middle East. This is a book of direct relevance to Iran's role in the Middle East today, and to how U.S.-Iran relations may onceagain influence regional politics. This is must reading for anyone interested in contemporary Iranian history, and in particular in U.S.-Iran relations."--Vali Nasr, author of The Dispensable Nation:American Foreign Policy in Retreat"Roham Alvandi's book provides a provocative and eloquently written account about a crucial period in the highly volatile relationship between the United States and Iran. Crucial reading for anyone wishing to understand the roots of America's current policy in the Middle East."--Jussi M. Hanhimäki, author of Flawed Architect: Henry Kissinger and American Foreign Policy"This important book confirms Roham Alvandi's status as one of the new generation's leading scholars of Iran. His meticulous research and original analysis provide the clearest picture yet of a historic turning point for the country that helped lead it down the path to revolution. He breaks new ground on topics of enduring relevance--including Iran's regional policies and nuclear ambitions--and offers myth-dispelling assessments of the Shah and his erstwhileU.S. patrons. Finally, his conclusions present a salutary test of conventional Cold War formulations, particularly regarding the role of the Third World."--Malcolm Byrne, author of Iran-Contra:Reagan's Scandal and the Unchecked Abuse of Presidential Power"Nixon, Kissinger, and the Shah is a fine example of just how much work can be done even while archives remain closed. As more works like it appear in coming years, our understanding of the truly global nature of the Cold War is certain to improve."--Paul Thomas Chamberlin, Cold War History

Promotional

Challenges the conventional view of the shah as a mere instrument of American power during the Cold War by extending the study of US-Iran relations into the 1970s when the shah emerged as a major international figure.

Prizes

Winner of A Foreign Policy Best Book of 2014.

Long Description

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last shah of Iran, is often remembered as a pliant instrument of American power during the Cold War. In this groundbreaking study Roham Alvandi offers a revisionist account of the shah's relationship with the United States by examining the partnership he forged with Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger in the 1970s. Based on extensive research in the British and U.S. archives, as well as a wealth of Persian-language diaries, memoirs, and oral
histories, this work restores agency to the shah as an autonomous international actor and suggests that Iran evolved from a client to a partner of the United States under the Nixon Doctrine.
Nixon, Kissinger, and the Shah offers a detailed account of three key historical episodes in the Nixon-Kissinger-Pahlavi partnership that shaped the global Cold War far beyond Iran's borders. It examines the emergence of Iranian primacy in the Persian Gulf as the Nixon administration looked to the shah to fill the vacuum created by the British withdrawal from the region in 1971. It then turns to the peak of the partnership after Nixon and Kissinger's historic 1972
visit to Iran, when the shah succeeded in drawing the United States into his covert war against Iraq in Kurdistan. Finally, it focuses on the decline of the partnership under Nixon's successor, Gerald Ford,
through a history of the failed negotiations from 1974 to 1976 for an agreement on U.S. nuclear exports to Iran. Taken together, these episodes map the rise of the fall of Iran's Cold War partnership with the United States during the decade of superpower détente, Vietnam, and Watergate.This work of American diplomatic history, international relations, and Middle Eastern Studies provides critical historic background on Iran's ambitions for primacy in the Persian
Gulf, its nuclear program, and what a US-Iran strategic partnership might look like in the future.

Review Text

"Meticulously researched and expertly crafted, it is a model of first-rate international history The book also has striking relevance to understanding how the current alignment of forces in the region came about."--Journal of Cold War Studies
"Meticulously researched and expertly crafted, it is a model of first-rate international history The book also has striking relevance to understanding how the current alignment of forces in the region came about."--Journal of Cold War Studies
"In Nixon, Kissinger, and the Shah Roham Alvandi examines the intimate relationship that developed among three 1970s cold warriors: President Richard M. Nixon, Henry Kissinger, and Iranian shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.... [Alvandi] provides a unique case study of the
power of individual leaders and the strength of such relationships in international relations, as well as the consequences - good or bad - of forming policy without the scrutiny of government agencies or public opinion." --Journal of American History
"Roham Alvandi...has given us a beautifully written and thoroughly researched account of the 'special relationship' between the Nixon Administration and the Shah during the early 1970s..." --The Middle East Journal
"[An] enlightening new book [that] offers a timely revisionist approach to one of the
most misunderstood bilateral relationships of modern times... As scholars continue to sift through the archives, this book and others like it are challenging conventional thinking by offering a more rounded and mature discussion of U.S.-Iran relations under the last shah." --Journal of Interdisciplinary History
"Knowledge of the 1970s, when Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was one of Washington's closest global allies, is essential for anyone wishing to understand why it is so difficult for the US and Iran to overcome their differences. Alvandi throws new light on the period by showing that Iran's last shah was more than just President Richard Nixon's cat's paw in the Middle East." --Tony Barber, Financial Times (Chosen for the Financial Times's "Summer Books"
list)
"Dispensing with older historiographies that denude Middle Eastern leaders of individual agency, Alvandi's contribution breathes life into great-man history and the power of personality... [A] well-written account of personality-driven politics against the backdrop of the Cold War. Alvandi's book surveys a broad swath of time and place. But the power of this volume remains centered in its story: the promise and plight of nations as a result of the men who led
them." --Behnam Ben Taleblu, War on the Rocks blog
"This is an important and ground-breaking book on an often misunderstood period in Middle East history and U.S.-Iran relations. Roham Alvandi draws on fresh historical sources to provide an incisive corrective in his in-depth look into how the United States and Iran formulated foreign policy and forged a partnership to manage the Middle East. This is a book of direct relevance to Iran's role in the Middle East today, and to how U.S.-Iran relations may once
again influence regional politics. This is must reading for anyone interested in contemporary Iranian history, and in particular in U.S.-Iran relations." --Vali Nasr, author of The Dispensable Nation:
American Foreign Policy in Retreat
"Roham Alvandi's book provides a provocative and eloquently written account about a crucial period in the highly volatile relationship between the United States and Iran. Crucial reading for anyone wishing to understand the roots of America's current policy in the Middle East." --Jussi M. Hanhimäki, author of Flawed Architect: Henry Kissinger and American Foreign Policy
"This important book confirms Roham Alvandi's status as one of the new generation's leading scholars of Iran. His meticulous research and original analysis provide the clearest picture yet of a historic turning point for the country that helped lead it down the path to revolution. He breaks new ground on topics of enduring relevance-including Iran's regional policies and nuclear ambitions-and offers myth-dispelling assessments of the Shah and his erstwhile
U.S. patrons. Finally, his conclusions present a salutary test of conventional Cold War formulations, particularly regarding the role of the Third World." --Malcolm Byrne, author of Iran-Contra: Reagan's
Scandal and the Unchecked Abuse of Presidential Power
"Nixon, Kissinger, and the Shah is a fine example of just how much work can be done even while archives remain closed. As more works like it appear in coming years, our understanding of the truly global nature of the Cold War is certain to improve."-Paul Thomas Chamberlin, Cold War History

Review Quote

"Meticulously researched and expertly crafted, it is a model of first-rate international history The book also has striking relevance to understanding how the current alignment of forces in the region came about."--Journal of Cold War Studies "Meticulously researched and expertly crafted, it is a model of first-rate international history The book also has striking relevance to understanding how the current alignment of forces in the region came about."--Journal of Cold War Studies "In Nixon, Kissinger, and the Shah Roham Alvandi examines the intimate relationship that developed among three 1970s cold warriors: President Richard M. Nixon, Henry Kissinger, and Iranian shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.... [Alvandi] provides a unique case study of the power of individual leaders and the strength of such relationships in international relations, as well as the consequences - good or bad - of forming policy without the scrutiny of government agencies or public opinion." --Journal of American History "Roham Alvandi...has given us a beautifully written and thoroughly researched account of the ''special relationship'' between the Nixon Administration and the Shah during the early 1970s..." --The Middle East Journal "[An] enlightening new book [that] offers a timely revisionist approach to one of the most misunderstood bilateral relationships of modern times... As scholars continue to sift through the archives, this book and others like it are challenging conventional thinking by offering a more rounded and mature discussion of U.S.-Iran relations under the last shah." --Journal of Interdisciplinary History "Knowledge of the 1970s, when Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was one of Washington''s closest global allies, is essential for anyone wishing to understand why it is so difficult for the US and Iran to overcome their differences. Alvandi throws new light on the period by showing that Iran''s last shah was more than just President Richard Nixon''s cat''s paw in the Middle East." --Tony Barber, Financial Times (Chosen for the Financial Times''s "Summer Books" list) "Dispensing with older historiographies that denude Middle Eastern leaders of individual agency, Alvandi''s contribution breathes life into great-man history and the power of personality... [A] well-written account of personality-driven politics against the backdrop of the Cold War. Alvandi''s book surveys a broad swath of time and place. But the power of this volume remains centered in its story: the promise and plight of nations as a result of the men who led them." --Behnam Ben Taleblu, War on the Rocks blog "This is an important and ground-breaking book on an often misunderstood period in Middle East history and U.S.-Iran relations. Roham Alvandi draws on fresh historical sources to provide an incisive corrective in his in-depth look into how the United States and Iran formulated foreign policy and forged a partnership to manage the Middle East. This is a book of direct relevance to Iran''s role in the Middle East today, and to how U.S.-Iran relations may once again influence regional politics. This is must reading for anyone interested in contemporary Iranian history, and in particular in U.S.-Iran relations." --Vali Nasr, author of The Dispensable Nation: American Foreign Policy in Retreat "Roham Alvandi''s book provides a provocative and eloquently written account about a crucial period in the highly volatile relationship between the United States and Iran. Crucial reading for anyone wishing to understand the roots of America''s current policy in the Middle East." --Jussi M. Hanhimki, author of Flawed Architect: Henry Kissinger and American Foreign Policy "This important book confirms Roham Alvandi''s status as one of the new generation''s leading scholars of Iran. His meticulous research and original analysis provide the clearest picture yet of a historic turning point for the country that helped lead it down the path to revolution. He breaks new ground on topics of enduring relevance-including Iran''s regional policies and nuclear ambitions-and offers myth-dispelling assessments of the Shah and his erstwhile U.S. patrons. Finally, his conclusions present a salutary test of conventional Cold War formulations, particularly regarding the role of the Third World." --Malcolm Byrne, author of Iran-Contra: Reagan''s Scandal and the Unchecked Abuse of Presidential Power "Nixon, Kissinger, and the Shah is a fine example of just how much work can be done even while archives remain closed. As more works like it appear in coming years, our understanding of the truly global nature of the Cold War is certain to improve."-Paul Thomas Chamberlin, Cold War History

Feature

Selling point: Challenges the conventional view of the shah as a mere instrument of American power during the Cold War by extending the study of US-Iran relations into the 1970s when the shah emerged as a major international figure.
Selling point: Draws on extensive multi-archival research, making use of recently declassified U.S. documents.
Selling point: Draws on Persian-language sources.
Selling point: Examines the origins of Iran's nuclear program in the 1970s under the shah.

Details