U.S.-Iranian Relations, 1905-1953

FAIN: FT-254581-17

Kelly Shannon
Florida Atlantic University (Boca Raton, FL 33431-6424)

A book-length study of U.S.-Iranian relations, 1905-1953.

This book-length project will offer a critical and comprehensive examination of US-Iran relations during the period between Iran’s first revolution and the 1953 US coup against Iran’s prime minister. Based on extensive multi-national, multi-lingual archival research in government, non-government, and cultural sources, this book will provide a deep understanding of the roots and drivers of early US-Iran engagement. By writing a history of the broad array of interactions between Americans and Iranians--official diplomacy, geopolitics, military matters, missionary activities, business and financial relationships, oil, travelers and tourism, women and gender, human rights and humanitarianism, and culture--I will argue that Americans had an indelible impact on Iranian nationalism and understanding of the West, while Iran served as an ally for US attempts to upend the European-dominated global system, a lens for understanding the Islamic world, and a site for the exercise of growing US power.