Mullahs, guards, and bonyads an exploration of Iranian leadership dynamics

The Islamic Republic of Iran poses serious challenges to U.S. interests in the Middle East, and its nuclear program continues to worry, and bring condemnation and sanction from, the international community. Yet the U.S. ability to "read" the regime in Tehran and formulate appropriate polic...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Thaler, David E.
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Santa Monica, CA RAND, National Defense Research Institute ©2010©2010, 2010
Series:RAND Corporation monograph series
Subjects:
Online Access:
Collection: JSTOR Open Access Books - Collection details see MPG.ReNa
Description
Summary:The Islamic Republic of Iran poses serious challenges to U.S. interests in the Middle East, and its nuclear program continues to worry, and bring condemnation and sanction from, the international community. Yet the U.S. ability to "read" the regime in Tehran and formulate appropriate policies has been handicapped by the lack of access to Iran experienced by U.S. diplomats and other citizens and by what many observers lament as the opacity of Iranian decisionmaking processes. The objective of this book is to offer a framework to help U.S. policymakers and analysts better understand existing and evolving leadership dynamics driving Iranian decisionmaking. The research herein provides not only a basic primer on the structure, institutions, and personalities of the government and other influential power centers but also a better understanding of Iranian elite behavior as a driver of Iranian policy formulation and execution. The book pays special attention to emerging fissures within the regime, competing centers of power, and the primacy of informal networks-- a particularly important yet not well understood hallmark of the Iranian system
Item Description:"Prepared for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, approved for public release, distribution unlimited."
Physical Description:xxiii, 144 pages illustrations
ISBN:9780833047731
0833047736