The "Great Satan" vs. the "Mad Mullahs" How the United States and Iran Demonize Each Other

Subjects:

• Multicultural Studies » Middle East Studies
• Political Science » International Relations
• Anthropology » Cultural Anthropology

Reviews:

• Regardless of the reader's viewpoint, this book is a challenging analysis by an anthropologist of an international conflict that threatens to get out of control. For that reason alone, this is a timely book.
  —MultiCultural Review Fall 2006
• [B]eeman is a good writer, who eschews the scholarly jargon that frequently makes academic books and articles unintelligble to all but specialists in a specific field. He is writing for the non-specialist, and he is more interested in informing the reader than in impressing his peers. The other strength of the book lies in the author's knowledge of Iranian history and culture. Beeman's discussion of economic development under the Pahlavi monarchy and how Americans in the country lived at the time is imformative, and his observation that "Iranians hate being told what to do by people with whom they have no relationship" should be taken under advisement by everybody....The "Great Satan" vs. the "Mad Mullahs" raises many questions and is problematic, those are additional reasons for reading it. It challenges the reader and forces him to question stereotypes about Iran and Washington's perspective on the country. It also encourages the reader to consider Tehran's perceptions.
  —Middle East Journal Spring 2006

• Endorsement From Michael M. J. Fischer, Professor of Anthropology and Science Technology Studies
  Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and author of Mute Dreams, Blind Owls, and Dispersed Knowledges: Persian Poesis in the Transnational Circuity: Bill Beeman, the author of the classic text, Language, Status and Power in Iran, returns now with a provocative and timely analysis of why Iranian and U.S. diplomats are caught in vicious circles of cultural miscommunication and mutual demonization. Must reading for diplomats, policy wonks, pundits, and concerned citizens.
• Endorsement From James Peacock
  Kenan Professor of Anthropology
  University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill: William Beeman's analysis of dissonant perceptions of Iran and USA is compelling and important for everyone, citizen or policyshaper, who wishes to understand or influence relations between Islam, Iran, and us. He speaks knowledgeably, wisely, and plainly, based on direct experience.... I am particularly grateful for this work.
• Endorsement From Mary Catherine Bateson
  author of Willing to Learn: Passages of Personal Discovery: William Beeman stands first among American anthropologists in applying an understanding of cultural patterns to foreign policy, especially in connecting conflicts between Iran and the United States with underlying differences in patterns of thought and expression. Everyone concerned with policy making and reporting on the Middle East needs to study his thoughtful analyses.
• Endorsement From Marvin Zonis
  Graduate School of Business
  University of Chicago: Bill Beeman is perfectly attuned to Iran's secular and Shi'ite cultures. He has translated his profound 'feel' for Iran into a work that makes it possible for an American audience to understand and even empathize with Iranians. Until the United States Government is capable of doing that, however, little progress can be made in fashioning a new relation with Iran.
• Endorsement From R. K. Ramazani
  Edward R. Stettinius Professor Emeritus of Politics
  University of Virginia: If you want to know why we are so ignorant about the United States-Iran relations, read this book. Never before has the mutual demonization between these two governments been so systematically described and analyzed from an anthropological perspective. Rooted in their histories, mythologies, and cultures, the conflict between them, the author argues, is essentially symbolic rather than substantive. Therefore, reconciliation between the two countries is 'inevitable,' but the challenge ahead lies in finding a way to make it happen.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction: Discourse and Demonization
• American Myths
• Middle Eastern Myths
• Discourse and Rhetoric
• Images of the Great Satan
• Images of the Mad Mullah
• The Framework of U.S. Iranian Relations
• The Sins of the United States
• The Sins of Iran
• The Birth of Post-modern Conflict: How Iranian Media Came of Age
• Living with Iran: Resistance as Post-modern Discourse

PDF Catalogs:

Praeger Politics 2007.pdf