U.S. Policy Towards Iran in the Era of Détente: the Relationship between Grand-Theories and Policies

Document Type : Research Article

Author

Assistant Professor of Regional Studies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Détente was the focal point of the Nixon-Kissinger foreign policy, a macro approach that continued into the final year of Carter's presidency. Using a descriptive-analytical research method, this article obtains information from books, archives and documents to examine the relationship between grand-theories and the U.S. government’s Iran policies during the detent era. Consequently, the main research question is: How could the relevance of grand theory to U.S. policies towards Iran, from Nixon to Carter, be explained? This article's hypothesis, which will answer the main research question, is based on this statement. This relevance can be categorised under Instrumental, conceptual and symbolic functions via the approach developed by John Eriksson (Eriksson, 2014). According to John Erikson's perspective, which this paper draws on, grand-theories do not usually provide case-specific recommendations; they provide general road maps, conceptualise the environmental perception of the world, and have a symbolic function.

Keywords

References

  1. Allison, G. T. (1969). Conceptual models and the Cuban missile crisis. American Political Science Review, 63(3), 689-718.
  2. Bill J. A. (1988). The Eagle and the Lion: the tragedy of American-Iranian relations. Yale University Press.
  3. Bina C. (2017). Iran’s oil the theory of rent and the long shadow of history: a caveat on oil contracts in the islamic republic. Revue Internationale Des Études Du Développement 63–63.
  4. Blechman M. & Hart D. M. (1982). The political utility of nuclear weapons: the 1973 middle east crisis. International Security 132–156.
  5. Brannon S. (1994). Pillars petroleum and power: the United States in the gulf. The Arab Studies Journal 4–10.
  6. Bronson (2006). Thicker than oil: America’s uneasy partnership with Saudi Arabia. Oxford University Press.
  7. Campbell J. C. (1978). The middle east: the burdens of empire. Foreign Affairs 613–632.
  8. Carter J. (1982). Keeping faith memoirs of a president jimmy carter. Bantam Books.
  9. Carter, J. (1980). Jimmy Carter State of the Union Address 1980. jimmy carter library. https://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/assets/documents/speeches/su80jec.phtml
  10. Carter, J. (1979). Energy and National Goals: Address to the Nation. jimmy carter library.
  11. Carter J. (1977) “Text of President's Commencement Address at Notre Dame on Foreign Policy” New York Times, May 23, 1977.
  12. Cooper A. S. (2012). The oil kings: how the U.S. Iran and Saudi Arabia changed the balance of power in the middle east (1st Simon & Schuster trade pbk.). Simon & Schuster Paperbacks.
  13. Goldberg & United States. (1984). History of the office of the secretary of defense. Historical Office of the Secretary of Defense.
  14. Douglas E. (2016). The Nixon effect: how Richard Nixon’s presidency fundamentally changed American politics. Encounter Books. Retrieved August 25 2022 from INSERT-MISSING-URL.
  15. Eriksson J. (2014). On the policy relevance of grand theory. International Studies Perspectives 94–108.
  16. États-Unis Keefer E. C. & Phillips S. E. (2006). Foreign relations of the united states 1969-1976. volume xvii china 1969-1972. United States Government Printing Office.
  17. Ford, Kissinger, George Shultz. Memoranda of Conversation: February 7, 1975 (Gerald Ford Library)
  18. Ford, Kissinger, Iranian Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, Memoranda of Conversations: May 15, 1975 (Gerald Ford Library)
  19. Friedman (2021). The end of Pax Britannica in the Persian Gulf 1968-1971. Palgrave Macmillan.
  20. Gause F. Gregory. n.d. (1985) “British and American Policies in the Persian Gulf 1968-1973.” Review of International Studies 247–73. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0260210500114172.
  21. Gasiorowski J. (1991). U.S. foreign policy and the Shah : building a client state in Iran. Cornell University Press.
  22. Grieco, J., 1988. Anarchy and the Limits of Cooperation: A Realist Critique of the newest Liberal Institutionalism. International Organization 42 (3):485-507.
  23. IKENBERRY, G. J. (2018). “The end of liberal international order?” International Affairs. 94, 7-23.
  24. JENTLESON, BRUCE W., AND ELY RATNER. (2011) Bridging the Beltway–Ivory Tower Gap. International Studies Review 13(1): 6–11.
  25. Johns A. L. (2007). The johnson administration the shah of iran and the changing pattern of u.s.-iranian relations 1965-1967 “tired of being treated like a schoolboy.” Journal of Cold War Studies 64–94.
  26. Kennedy, John. F, "Diplomacy and Defense: A Test of National Maturity,'' 16 November 1961, U.S. State Department Bulletin, Vol. 45, No. 1171, 4 December 1961.
  27. Kennedy, John. F, News Conference, 21 March 1963, Public Papers of the Presidents, 1963.
  28. Keohane, R. O. and Nye, J. S., (eds) (1977). Power and Interdependence: World Politics in Transition. Boston, MA: Little, Brown
  29. Kuniholm R. (1986). The carter doctrine the Reagan corollary and prospects for united states policy in southwest Asia. International Journal 342–361.
  30. Kissinger, Henry. (1992) quoted in Walter Isaacson, Kissinger: A Biography .New York: Simon & Schuster.
  31. McGlinchey S. (2013). Lyndon b. Johnson and arms credit sales to Iran 1964-1968. Middle East Journal 229–247.
  32. Meadows, III & ARMY COMMAND AND GENERAL STAFF COLL FORT LEAVENWORTH KS SCHOOL OF ADVANCED MILITARY STUDIES. (n.d.). Are Standing Joint Task Force Headquarters the First Step in Transforming Cold War Formations? DTIC. Retrieved October 12, 2022, from https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADA445045
  33. Mearsheimer J. (1990). Back to the future: instability in Europe after the cold war.
  34. Mearsheimer J. J. & Walt S. M. (2016). The case for offshore balancing: a superior u.s. grand strategy. Foreign Affairs (20160620).
  35. MEARSHEIMER, J. J. (2018). The great delusion: liberal dreams and international realities. New Haven, Yale University Press.
  36. Mearsheimer J. (2019). Bound to fail: the rise and fall of the liberal international order. International Security 7–50.
  37. Milner H. (1991). The assumption of anarchy in international relations theory: a critique. Review of International Studies 67–85.
  38. Mohammadally S. (1979). Pakistan-Iran relations (1947-1979). Pakistan Horizon 51–63.
  39. NYE, JOSEPH S. (2008) International Relations: The Relevance of Theory to Practice. In The Oxford Handbook of International Relations, edited by Christian Reus-Smith, and Duncan Snidal, Chapter37. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  40. Nincic M. & Lepgold J. (2000). Being useful: policy relevance and international relations theory. University of Michigan Press.
  41. Nixon, R. M. (1970). U.S. Foreign Policy for the 1970's: a New Strategy for Peace: A Report to the Congress. United States: U.S. Government Printing Office.
  42. Patterson D. S. Howland N. D. & United States. (1999). Foreign relations of the united states 1964-1968. volume xxii iran. Dept. of State : For sale by the U.S. G.P.O. Supt. of Docs.
  43. PPPWJC, vol. 1 (1993), Statement on Most-Favored-Nation Trade Status for China, May 28,1993, pp. 770–771.
  44. Reich (1984). United States middle east policy in the carter and Reagan administrations. Australian Outlook 72–80.
  45. Robb T. (2013). A strained partnership? US-UK relations in the era of dé́tente 1969-77. Manchester University Press.
  46. Rubin B. M. (1984). Paved with good intentions: the American experience and Iran. Penguin Books.
  47. Schoen E. (2016). The Nixon effect: How Richard Nixon’s presidency fundamentally changed American politics. Encounter Books.
  48. SHULTZ, G. P. (1993). Turmoil and triumph: my years as Secretary of State. New York, Charles Scribner's Sons.
  49. Sick, Gary. (2018) “The United States in the Persian Gulf: From Twin Pillars to Dual Containment,” in David W. Lesch and Mark L. Haas, The Middle East and the United States: History, Politics and Ideologies. Boulder, CO: Westview Press
  50. Smith T. J. & Hogan J. M. (1987). Public opinion and the Panama Canal treaties of 1977. The Public Opinion Quarterly 5–30
  51. Snyder J. C. (1987). Defending the fringe: NATO the Mediterranean and the Gulf. Westview Press.
  52. Strong, R. A. (2016, October 4). Jimmy Carter: Foreign Affairs. Miller Center.
  53. Summitt, A. R. (2004). For a white revolution: John F. Kennedy and the Shah of Iran. The Middle East Journal 560–575.
  54. WALLACE, WILLIAM. (1996) “Truth and Power, Monks and Technocrats: Theory and Practice in International Relations”. Review of International Studies 22(3): 301–321.
  55. WALT, STEPHEN M. (2005) “The Relationship Between Columbia University Press and Theory and Policy in International Relations”. Annual Review of Political Science 8: 23–48.
  56. Walt, Stephen M. 2018. The Hell of Good Intentions: America’s Foreign Policy Elite and the Decline of the U.S. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
  57. Waltz K. N. (1979). Theory of international politics. McGraw-Hill.
  58. Waltz, Kenneth, 2000. “NATO expansion: A realist’s view”. Contemporary Security Policy p. 23-38
  59. WALTZ, KENNETH. (1981) The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: More May Be Better. Adelphi Papers, Special.Issue 21(171).
  60. Wingerter, Rex. (1977), “The United States, the Soviet Union and the Indian Ocean: The competition for the third world”, Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars, 9:3, 52-64
  61. Smith, William. “Price Quadruples for Iran Crude Oil,” New York Times, December 12, 1973.
  62. Yetiv A. (2008). The absence of grand strategy : the United States in the Persian Gulf 1972-2005. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Iranian Journal of Public Policy
Volume 8, Issue 4
2023
Pages 155-169

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics