Iran: Statecraft, loneliness and geography

Mohd Noor Merican, Ahmad Murad (2025) Iran: Statecraft, loneliness and geography. Bebasnews, NA (NA). p. 1.

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Abstract

AN epigram in Vali Nasr’s Iran’s Grand Strategy: A Political History (2025/Princeton University Press) cites Ernest Renan’s from Qu’est Ce Qu’ine Nation (What is a nation) “Getting history wrong is part of being a nation.” Perhaps resonating the meaning of that epigram, the author poses an incident between Iran and the United States in the Introduction. The year was 2015. This was when a senior Iranian official on a visit to the United Nations in New York City, met with former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. In reflecting on his first hand experiences with political transitions in the Soviet Union and China at the end of the Cold War, Kissinger probed his Iranian guest on when it might be that Iran would similarly abandon its revolutionary ideology and embrace pragmatism. Kissinger had once summed up in his article: when would Iran cease being a cause and act as a nation-state – and then would Iran bury the hatchet with the United States.

Item Type:	Article (Electronic Media)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	History, Nationalism, Politics
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BP Islam. Bahaism. Theosophy, etc > BP1 Islam > BP173.5 Islam and world politics D History General and Old World > D History (General)
Kulliyyahs/Centres/Divisions/Institutes (Can select more than one option. Press CONTROL button):	International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC)
Depositing User:	PROF. DR. AHMAD MURAD MOHD NOOR MERICAN
Date Deposited:	23 Dec 2025 09:58
Last Modified:	23 Dec 2025 09:58
Queue Number:	2025-12-Q830
URI:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/id/eprint/125670

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