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

9780226041476
0-226-04147-6

For more than twenty-five years, the United States and Iran have been diplomatically estranged, each characterizing the other not only as a political adversary, but also as devious, threatening, and essentially.

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evil. According to William O. Beemans provocative book, The Great Satan vs. the Mad Mullahs, such demonization is a self-fulfilling prophecy, as both countries have embraced exactly the policies and rhetoric that would particularly threaten or insult the other. Drawing on his experience as a linguistic anthropologist, Beeman parses how political leaders have used historical references, religious associations, and the mythology of evil to inflame their own citizens against the foreign country, and proposes a way out of this dangerous debacle. William Beemans analysis of dissonant perceptions of Iran and the USA is compelling and important. . . . I am particularly grateful for this work.James Peacock, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill[Beeman] is more interested in informing the reader than in impressing his peers. The other strength of the book lies in the authors knowledge of Iranian history and culture. . . . It challenges the reader and forces him to question stereotypes about Iran and Washingtons perspective on the country.Abbas William Samii, Middle East Journal