‘Strong,United and Independent’: the British Foreign Office,Anglo–Iranian Oil Company and the internationalization of Iranian politics at the dawn of the Cold War, 1945–46

This article challenges traditional accounts of the 1946 Cold War Crisis in Iran by moving beyond Soviet–American confrontation to focus on British policy. In contrast to the United States, Britain was a major stake-holding power in Iran due to the valuable holdings of the Anglo–Iranian Oil Company (AIOC). By comparing the reactions of the AIOC and Foreign Office, continuity between the events of the 1946 Crisis and later developments in the Mosaddegh premiership becomes apparent. Soviet interference in Azerbaijan prompted great concern from representatives in Iran, but the central Foreign Office pursued a more cautious policy. Only concerns relating to the growth of domestic Iranian communism in the form of the Tudeh Party and the threat this entailed to the British concession prompted the Foreign Office and AIOC to take measures rendering them partially complicit in the internationalization of Iranian politics, setting an important precedent for future action. This article evaluates the policy-making process and its impact on Anglo–Iranian relations by utilizing records from the UK National Archives, British Petroleum Archive and diplomatic personal papers.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this articles. Oman: The Islamic Democratic Tradition , by Hussein Ghubash. Translated from the French by Mary Turton. Iraq in Fragments: The Occupation and Its Legacy , by Eric Herring and Glen Rangwala. Iran's Nuclear Ambitions , by Shahram Chubin. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Hidden Iran: Paradox and Power in the Islamic Republic , by Ray Takeyh, Times Books, 2006. The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future , by Vali Nasr. The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood , by Rashid Khalidi. The Palestinian Hamas: Vision, Violence, and Coexistence , by Shaul Mishal and Avraham Sela. Trapped in the War on Terror , by Ian S. Lustick. America at the Crossroads: Democracy, Power and the Neoconservative Legacy , by Francis Fukuyama. Ethical Realism: A Vision for America's Role in the World , by Anatol Lieven and John Hulsman.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article: The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy , by Seymour M. Hersh. No Trumpets, No Drums: A Two-State Settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict , by Mark A. Heller and Sari Nusseibeh. The Other Walls, the Arab-Israeli Peace Process in a Global Perspective , by Harold H. Saunders. Revised edition. Palestinian Lawyers and Israeli Rule: Law and Disorder in the West Bank , by George Emile Bisharat. Payback: America's Long War in the Middle East , by John K. Cooley. Syria and the Middle East Peace Process , by Alistair Drysdale and Raymond A. Hinnebush. Egypt and the ArabsndashForeign Policy and the Search for National Identity , by Joseph P. Lorenz. Kissing through Glass: The Invisible Shield between Americans and Israelis , by Joyce R. Starr. Both Right and Left Handed: Arab Women Talk about Their Lives , by Bouthaina Shaaban.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed in this issue.
Last Chance: The Middle East in the Balance , by David Gardner.
Foreign Policy, Inc.: Privatizing America's National Interest , by Lawrence Davidson.
Lion of Jordan: The Life of King Hussein in War and Peace , by Avi Shlaim.
King Hussein of Jordan: A Political Life , by Nigel Ashton.
The Nuclear Sphinx of Tehran: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the State of Iran , by Yossi Melman and Meir Javedanfar.
The Crisis of Islamic Civilization , by Ali A. Allawi.
Secularism and Muslim Democracy in Turkey , by M. Hakan Yavuz.
Secularism and State Policies toward Religion: The United States, France and Turkey , by Ahmet T. Kuru.     

美国并吞菲律宾过程中在香港之部署——以美国领事活动为中心

香港沦为殖民地后,美国在港活动愈趋频繁。时至美西战争前夕,美国驻香港总领事的委任及其活动为美国军事行动提供了重要支援;在港英当局奥援下,美国方面对菲律宾香港委员会开展舆论、情报及司法等斗争,并思考战后如何利用华人开发菲岛;为策应香港部署,广州、上海、新加坡与马尼拉等地美国领事与香港展开合作,加速并吞菲律宾。上述行动构成美国在东南亚扩张的重要环节,香港成为美国在远东扩张之战略要点,是菲岛以外不见硝烟的"战场"。     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed:
R. Stephen Humphreys, Between Memory and Desire: The Middle East in a Troubled Age
Meron Benvenisti, Sacred Landscape: The Buried History of the Holy Land Since 1948
K. J. Asali, (ed.) Jerusalem in History
Hillel Frisch, Countdown to Statehood: Palestinian State Formation in the West Bank and Gaza
Robert S. Litwak, Rogue States and U.S. Foreign Policy: Containment After the Cold War
Andrew Cockburn and Patrick Cockburn, Out of the Ashes: The Resurrection of Saddam Hussein
Nawaf E. Obaid, The Oil Kingdom at 100: Petroleum Policymaking in Saudi Arabia     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: Fiasco, the American Military Adventure in Iraq , by Thomas E. Ricks. Insurgency and Counter‐Insurgency in Iraq , by Ahmed S. Hashim. Al Qaeda Now: Understanding Today's Terrorists , edited by Karen Greenberg The Future of Kurdistan in Iraq , Brendan O'Leary, John McGarry and Khalid Salih, eds. Two Birthdays in Baghdad, by Anna Prouse . Translated by Elizabeth Griffith. The Three Occupied UAE Islands: The Tunbs and Abu Musa , by Thomas R. Mattair. Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope , by Shirin Ebadi, with Azadeh Moaveni The New Lion of Damascus: Bashar al‐Asad and Modern Syria , by David W. Lesch One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli‐Palestinian Impasse , by Ali Abunimah Structuring Conflict in the Arab World: Incumbents, Opponents, and Institutions , by Ellen Lust‐Okar.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil & Fundamentalism in Central Asia, by Ahmed Rashid. Fundamentalism Reborn? Afghanistan and the Taliban, by William Maley, ed. The Taliban: War, Religion, and the New Order in Afghanistan, by Peter Marsden. The Taliban Phenomenon: Afghanistan 1994–1997, by Kamal Matinuddin. An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan, by Jason Elliot. Succession in Saudi Arabia, by Joseph A. Kechichian. Religion and Culture in Medieval Islam, by Richard G. Hovannisian and Georges Sabagh, eds. Iran at the Crossroads, by John L. Esposito and R. K. Ramazani, eds. Religious Minorities in Iran, by Eliz Sanasarian. Comprehensive History of the Jews of Iran, by Habib Levy, translated from the Persian by George Maschke. Turkey's Transformation and American Policy, by Morton Abramowitz, ed. Syria and the Palestinians: The Clash of Nationalisms, by Ghada Hashem Talhami. Out of Place, by Edward W. Said.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article: Peace Process: American Diplomacy and the Arab-Israeli Conflict Since 1967 , by William B. Quandt. Securing Peace in the Middle East: Project on Economic Transition , by the Institute for Social and Economic Policy in the Middle East of the John F. The Passionate Attachment: America's Involvement with Israel, 1947 to the Present , by George W. Ball and Douglas B. Ball. Quagmire: America in the Middle East , by Leon T. Hadar. Sleeping on A Wire: Conversations with Palestinians in Israel , by David Grossman. Translated from the Hebrew by Haim Watzman. Breaking the Ice: Rapprochement Between East and West Germany, the United States and China and Israel and Egypt , by Tony Armstrong. Syria and the United States: Eisenhower's Cold War in the Middle East , by David W. Lesch. The Death Lobby: How the West Armed Iraq , by Kenneth R. Timmerman. After the Storm: The Changing Military Balance in the Middle East , by Anthony H. Cordesman. Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Middle East , by Anthony H. Cordesman. Postmodernism, Reason and Religion by Ernest Gellner.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
Arabs at the Crossroads: Political Identity and Nationalism , by Hilal Khashan.
Legislative Politics in the Arab World: the Resurgence of Democratic Institutions , by Abdo Baaklini, Guilain Denoeux and Robert Springborg.
Israel and the Bomb , by Avner Cohen.
Forcing God's Hand: Why Millions Pray for a Quick Rapture-and Destruction of Planet Earth , by Grace Halsell.
Scattered Like Seeds , by Shaw J. Dallal.
Unholy Wars: Afghanistan, America and International Terrorism , by John D. Cooley.
Historical Dictionary of Islamic Fundamentalist Movements in the Arab World, Iran, and Turkey , by Ahmad S. Moussalli.
The Making of the Modern Gulf States: Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman , by Rosemarie Said Zahlan.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
The Politics of Dispossession: The Struggle for Palestinian Self-Determination, 1969–1993 , by Edward W. Said.
Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of Three Thousand Years , by Israel Shahak. Foreward by Gore Vidal.
All That Remains: the Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948, Walid Khalidi, ed.
The Palestine Liberation Organization: From Armed Struggle to the Declaration of Independence , by Jamal R. Nassar.
Building Peace in the Middle East, Challenges for States and Civil Society, edited by Elise Boulding.
Crisis in the Arabian Gulf: An Independent Iraqi View , by Omar Ali.
America and the Iraqi Crisis, 1990–1992: Origins and Aflermath , by Lester H. Brune.
Iraqi Statesman: A Portrait of Mohammed Fadhel Jamali , by Harry J. Almond.
Broadcasting in the Arab World: A Survey of the Electronic Media in the Middle East , by Douglas Boyd.     

Decolonization in Reverse: The Iranian Oil Crisis of 1951–53

The decolonization process in the 1940s and 1950s in Middle Eastern states under Great Britain's informal influence did not aim at recognizing the same type of independence of these states as that enjoyed by Britain and the United States. In the 1940s Washington laid the groundwork for its leading role in Iran during and following the Iranian oil crisis, whilst London with the assistance of the Americans in part reasserted British influence after the crisis. The United States achieved a paramount position in Iran with the assistance of its oil companies and through cooperation with Great Britain, and at the expense of the latter and the Soviet Union.     

THE AMERICAN RESPONSE TO PAKISTANI AND IRANIAN NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION: A STUDY IN PARADOX

This article explores the paradox in the reaction of the United States to the two different proliferation cases: Pakistan's proliferation and Iran's weaponization effort. The article tries to find answer to the following key question; why the United States, as one of the guardians of the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) which would prefer to see a region that is entirely free of weapons of mass destruction, ultimately has accepted Pakistan's proliferation, while imposed considerable amount of pressure to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

The paper posits that number of factors explain such differences; first, and at the theoretical level, Pakistan was never considered an “irrational” and “messianic” state like Iran, but regarded as a country with a certain degree of cold-war type nuclear rationality. Second and at the applied level, while Pakistan was a US ally with not having a history of challenging the United States, Iran has been considered enemy and a threat toward the US interest.

Third, while Pakistan's nuclear arsenal was viewed as a defensive mean against overwhelming strength of India, Iran's possible nuclear arsenal considered to be for offensive uses against the United States and Israel. The fourth factor pertains to the consequences of proliferation, which is what happens when Iran's neighboring countries may feel threatened by Iranian nuclear weapon and proceed to develop their own arsenal. Fifth factor deals with the possible Iran's temptation to give some nuclear material to a terror group in which made the United States serious in preventing Iran's weaponization. Last but not least, Israel was not involved to pressure and agitate against Pakistan, while it was applied a tremendous pressure against Iran to prevent it from achieving nuclear weapons.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
Saudi Arabia: Guarding the Desert Kingdom, by Anthony H. Cordesman.
Iran: Dilemmas of Dual Containment, by Anthony H. Cordesman and Ahmed S. Hashim.
Iraq: Sanctions and Beyond, by Anthony H. Cordesman and Ahmed S. Hashim.
The Struggle for Power in Syria: Politics and Society under Asad and the Ba'th Party, by Nikolaos van Dam.
Rubber Bullets: Power and Conscience in Modern Israel, by Yaron Ezrahi.
Arab Women: Between Defiance and Restraint, edited by Suha Sabbagh.
Daughters of Palestine: Leading Women of the Palestinian National Movement, by Amal Kawar
George Ball: Behind the Scenes in U.S. Foreign Policy, by James A. Bill.
Muslim Politics, by Dale F. Eickelman and James Piscatori.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article: The Arabists: The Romance of an American Elite , by Robert D. Kaplan. The Politics of Miscalculation in the Middle East , by Richard B. Parker. Peace for Palestine: First Lost Opportunity , by Elmer Berger. Deliberate Deceptions: Facing the Facts about the U.S.-Israeli Relationship , by Paul Findley Profits of War , by Ari Ben-Menashe. Americans and the Palestinian Question: The U.S. Public Debate on Palestinian Nationhood, 1973–1978 , by Marianne van Leeuwen. Wasta: The Hidden Force in Middle Eastern Society , by Robert B. Cunningham and Yasin K. Sarayrah. Oil Trade: Politics and Prospects , by J. E. Hartshorn. The Forgotten Queens of Islam , by Fatima Mernissi. Translated from French by Mary Jo Lakeland.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: Centeno, Miguel A., and Patricio Silva, eds. The Politics of Expertise in Latin America. Fitch, J. Samuel. The Armed Forces and Democracy in Latin America. Oxhorn, Philip, and Pamela K. Starr, eds. Markets and Democracy in Latin America: Conflict or Convergence? Tuman, John P., and John T. Morris, eds. Transforming the Latin American Automobile Industry: Unions, Workers, and the Politics of Restructuring. Riordan Roett, ed. MERCOSUR: Regional Integration, World Markets. Inglehart, Ronald F., Neil Nevitte, and Miguel Basañez. The North American Trajectory: Cultural, Economic, and Political Ties Among the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Van Dijck, Pitou, ed. The Bolivian Experiment: Structural Adjustment and Poverty Alleviation. Triay, Victor Andrés. Fleeing Castro: Operation Pedro Pan and the Cuban Children's Program. Williams, Philip J., and Knut Walter. Militarization and Demilitarization in El Salvador's Transition to Democracy. Cullather, Nick. Secret History: The CIA's Classified Account of Its Operations in Guatemala, 1952–1954. Malone, David M. Decision‐making in the U.N. Security Council: The Case of Haiti.     

AFRICOM: a threat or an opportunity for African security?

The establishment of an African military command by the United States reflects the growing focus of the United States on Africa in the US National Security Strategy, which appears to be continuing under new US President Barack Obama. This article deals with several questions. What is the stated US National Security Strategy pertaining to Africa? What national interests does the United States have in Africa? What is the United States officially saying about its objectives in Africa and what has it actually been doing to date? And what are other opinion makers saying about US military involvement in Africa? Finally, it looks at the question of US perceptions of possible rivals in Africa and at potential scenarios for conflict before making a series of conclusions about the threats and opportunities posed by AFRICOM for Africa, and recommendations for a response to AFRICOM on the part of policymakers in South Africa.     

Reviews

Books reviewed in this issue.
The Transparent Cabal: The Neoconservative Agenda, War in the Middle East, and the National Interest of Israel , by Stephen J. Sniegoski.
The Hebrew Republic: How Secular Democracy and Global Enterprise Will Bring Israel Peace at Last , by Bernard Avishai.
The Devil We Know: Dealing with the New Iranian Superpower , by Robert Baer.
The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: The Paradox of Modern Iran , by Hooman Majd.
Culture and Conflict in the Middle East , by Philip Carl Salzman.
Syria: Chess Match at the Borders , A Film by Amal Hamelin des Essarts.
Commander of the Faithful: The Life and Times of Emir Abd el-Kader, A Story of True Jihad , by John W. Kiser.     

INTERVIEW WITH SAMIR J. HABIBY

The Rev. Canon Habiby is a former director of the Episcopal Church's global relief agency, the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief. In that capacity he worked closely with Terry Waite to further the Anglican Church's humanitarian efforts for the release of American hostages held in Lebanon. A Palestinian who became a refugee after the Jewish occupation of Haifa, Habiby came to the United States in 1954 at the age of 21 and later served two tours of duty in Vietnam as a navy chaplain. The following interview was conducted by Roger Gaess, a New York-based free-lance journalist, on December 17, 1991, at Canon Habiby's office in St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Riverside, Connecticut.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
REVIEW ESSAY: I sraeli N ational S ecurity : A N ew C onceptualization
The Sword and the Olive: A Critical History of the Israeli Defense Force , by Martin Van Creveld.
Knives, Tanks and Missles: Israel's Security Revolution , by Eliot A. Cohen, Michael Eisenstadt and A.J. Bacevich.
Israel and the Bomb , by Avner Cohen.
Rabin and Israel's National Security , by Efraim Inbar.
National Security: The Israeli Experience , by Yisrael Tal
Brother Against Brother: Violence and Extremism in Israeli Politics from Altalena to the Rabin Assassination , by Ehud Sprinzak.
The Transformation of Palestinian Politics: From Revolution to State-Building , by Barry Rubin.
Separate and Unequal: The Inside Story of Israeli Rule in East Jerusalem , by Amir S. Chesin, Bill Hutman and Avi Melamed.
Islamic Politics in Palestine , by Beverly Milton-Edwards.
Drinking the Sea at Gaza: Days and Nights in a Land Under Siege , by Amira Hass. New York:
The Israeli-Syrian Peace Talks: 1991-96 and Beyond , by Helena Cobban.
Bring Down the Walls. Lebanon's Post-War Challenge , by Carole H. Dagher.
Tournament of Shadows: The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Central Asia , by Karl E. Meyer and Shareen Blair Brysac.