Türkiye, Iran, and the politics of comparison : America's wife, America's concubine / Perin E. Gürel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gurel, Perin, author.

Series:

LSE international studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Iran--Foreign relations--United States.

Iran.

Turkey--Foreign relations--United States.

Turkey.

United States--Foreign relations--Turkey.

United States.

United States--Foreign relations--Iran.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2025.

Summary:

"In a 1962 meeting at the White House, Iran's last monarch, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, complained to US President John F. Kennedy 'America treats Turkey as a wife, and Iran as a concubine.' Taking this protest as a critical starting point, this book examines the transnational history of comparisons between Türkiye and Iran from Cold War-era modernization theory to post-9/11 studies of 'moderate Islam'. Perin E. Gürel explores how US policymakers and thought leaders strategically used comparisons to advance shifting agendas, while stakeholders in Türkiye and Iran responded by anticipating, manipulating, and reshaping US-driven narratives. Juxtaposing dominant US-based comparisons with representations originating from Iran and Türkiye, Gürel's interdisciplinary and multilingual research uncovers unexpected twists: comparisons didn't always reinforce US authority but often reflected and encouraged the rise of new ideologies. This book offers fresh insight into the complexities of US-Middle Eastern relations and the enduring impact of comparativism on international relations"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Daddy issues : Reza Shah, Atatürk, and comparison as personification

A modern empress : Modernization theory and the politics of beauty

Aspirational whiteness and honorary blackness : Race, religion, and the politics of defiance

Veiled agents : Islamic feminism, similitude, and the limits of solidarity

America’s coy lovers : Claiming mysticism and dialogue from the cold war to the war on terror

Epilogue : The forbidden lovers – beyond the triangulation?.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index

Online resource; title from PDF title page (Cambridge University Press, viewed September 23, 2025).

Other Format:

Print version: Gurel, Perin. Türkiye, Iran, and the politics of comparison

ISBN:

9781009623896

1009623893

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license