Paved with Good Intentions: The American Experience in Iran

by Barry Rubin

Critically examines the fifty-year American-Iranian relationship with the hindsight of Iran's recent revolution, detailing how the good intentions of both America's foreign policy and the Shah's reform efforts went awry

Genres: Iran, Middle East, History

Paperback

First published October 30, 1980

About the author

Barry Rubin is an American-born Israeli expert on terrorism and Middle Eastern affairs.

Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center, editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA), and a professor at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya, Israel. He is also editor of the journal 'Turkish Studies'.

Reviews

[MARTIN MCVEIGH · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not an easy read, but certainly not ponderous. My having been a young adult through this period helped me through it. This review of Iran-US relations through the 20th century shows mistakes, misunderstandings, and biases which still effect modern foreign policy and world views, and not just for the US but overall.

[Michael Stogsdill · Rating 1 out of 5]

A mediocre and not very insightful history of an extremely interesting and complicated topic.

[Henri Moreaux · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is probably the best book I've had the pleasure of reading on Iran covering the years from the Allied Invasion of neutral Iran in World War 2 to the Islamic Revolution (that is, 1945-1980). Whilst the book covers a lot of ground it's primary focus is on the relations between American and Iran, although it does deal with Britain & Russia where relevant.

Previous to reading this book I only had a cursory understanding of the events leading up to the abdication of the throne by the Shah & the Islamic Revolution. The other books I've read on the topic seem to focus solely on SAVAK (the Shah's secret police) or the revolutionaries without any context. For example it's often put forth that SAVAK was extremely brutal yet in context they were no more so than comparative countries or what replaced them.

The reasons for the fall of the Shah and the success of the Islamic Revolution (as well as the seemingly bumbling response of the American Government) are all addressed within and fairly covered.

If you're looking for a good book that provides context, understanding and a good overview of events I don't think you can go wrong with this. Events are fairly analysed and the positions of both sides are put forth then dissected with facts or deductive reasoning with the reasoning provided.

[Sophia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Incredibly dense. Challenges traditional anti-American perspective. Challenging read, but choc full of pertinent information. Very much an academic read, rather than one for pleasure.