خلاصه ماشینی:
Donette Murray, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Defence and International Relations at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, states the book’s objective as a new assessment of US-Iranian relations by exploring the "rationale, effectiveness and consequences of American foreign policy from the aftermath of the 1979 Iranian Revolution to the present day" - that is, through the end of the George W.
In the present essay, not a conventional book review and inevitably much longer than a run-of-the-mill review, I have tried to capture the essence of Murray’s argument – including through drawing on her narrative as well as some direct quotations - in tackling the dominant approach and policy of five US administrations vis-à-vis Iran, then look at her conclusions, and finally add a few reflections of my own – trying as best as a career diplomat still under the hat can express himself and not go out on a limb.
" She cautions, however, that while the Iranian narrative is also incorporated, the book’s focus is on the US dimension of the relationship – "an analysis of why American foreign policy evolved in such a way that its successes have too often been eclipsed by a litany of failures," studied through a chronological structure covering the presidencies of Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.
" In her final assessment of Reagan’s Iran policy, Murray believes that the highly controversial nature of the "arms for hostages" initiative [The Iranian Triangle] and its fallout "reduced the odds of making progress on an opening to Iran to almost zero" – which, considering the actual situation after two more decades of US foreign policy, seems to be an accurate albeit sad conclusion.