Book Talk: Iran's Grand Strategy: A Political History

In his latest book, , Vali Nasr examines Iran’s political history in new ways to explain its actions and ambitions on the world stage.

Drawing on memoirs, oral histories, and original in-depth interviews with Iranian decision makers, Nasr brings to light facts and events in Iran’s political history that have been overlooked until now. He traces the roots of Iran’s strategic outlook to its experiences over the past four decades of war with Iraq in the 1980s and the subsequent U.S. containment of Iran, invasion of Iraq in 2003, and posture toward Iran thereafter. Iran’s Grand Strategy: A Political History provides invaluable new insights into what Iran wants and why, explaining the country’s resistance to the United States, its nuclear ambitions, and its pursuit of influence and proxies across the Middle East.

Speakers:

Vali Nasr, Majid Khadduri Professor of Middle East Studies and International Affairs, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies

Ali Alfoneh, Senior Fellow, AGSI (Discussant)

Moderator: Hussein Ibish, Senior Resident Scholar, AGSI

Host or Publisher AGSIW