Bitter Friends, Bosom Enemies: Iran, the U.S., and the Twisted Path to Confrontation

by Barbara Slavin

With lucid analysis and engaging storytelling, USA Today senior diplomatic correspondent Barbara Slavin portrays the complex love-hate relationship between Iran and the United States. She takes into account deeply imbedded cultural habits and political goals to illuminate a struggle that promises to remain a headline story over the next decade. In this fascinating look, Slavin provides details of thwarted efforts at reconciliation under both the Clinton and Bush presidencies and opportunities rebuffed by the Bush administration in its belief that invading Iraq would somehow weaken Iran's Islamic government. Yet despite the dire situation in Iraq, the Bush administration appears to be building a case for confrontation with Iran based on the same three issues it used against Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, support for terrorism, and repression of human rights. The U.S. charges Iran is supporting terrorists inside and outside Iraq and is repressing its own people who, in the words of U.S. officials, "deserve better." Slavin believes the U.S. government may be suffering from the same lack of understanding and foresight that led it into prolonged warfare in Iraq.

One of the few reporters to interview Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as well as his two predecessors and scores of ordinary Iranians, Slavin gives insight into what the U.S. government may not be taking into account. She portrays Iran as a country that both adores and fears America and has a deeply rooted sense of its own historical and regional importance. Despite government propaganda that portrays the U.S. as the "Great Satan," many Iranians have come to idolize staples of American pop culture while clinging to their own traditions. This is clearly not a relationship to be taken a face value. The interplay between the U.S. and Iran will only grow more complex as Iran moves toward becoming a nuclear power. Distrustful of each other's intentions yet longing at some level to reconcile, neither Tehran nor Washington know how this story will end.

Genres: Iran, Nonfiction, Politics, International Relations

272 pages, Hardcover

First published October 16, 2007

Reviews

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A clever woman with more first-hand knowledge on U.S.-Iranian relations than most writes a clever book on what is truly a twisted relationship between two equally arrogant countries (even if not equal in other ways). I can't wait to see more from Slavin and her friends.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I heard Slavin at a book signing years ago and she knows her stuff. This was a very informative book. Much has changed over the years, but Western animosity toward Iran and Iranian suspicious of the West has not. Everything else operates within these parameters.

[Wilmer Rezvani · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books on the wrought relationship between the United States and Iran. Connects the dots -from friendship to enmity- in a easy to follow manner.

[Evin Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book; I loved how she compared the US and Iran to a married couple going through a divorce. People, politicians and governments are often more emotional than they want to admit.

I deducted a star because she called Mossadegh weird, and thus probably alienated half the audience this book could have influenced - Iranians.

"Still, the Internet remained a safety valve for young people yearning for connections with each other and the outside world." (p.133) - I remember this very well; gaining Internet access in Saudi Arabia. Whatever the country or society, the Internet, and other tools which promote transparency and freedom, are the impulse of humanity.