Decoding Iran’s Foreign Policy: Strategic Interests, Power and Influence

Since the 1979 revolution, Iranian leaders have persisted in advancing a foreign policy aimed at achieving regional prominence and, in particular, rebuffing U.S. efforts to limit Iran’s influence. But how are foreign policy decisions made in light of the country’s tumultuous history? How do the challenges posed by regional and global actors impact Iranian decision making? And how can we expect Iran to behave in the future?

This book uses a ’strategic lens’ to explain how Iran conducts its current foreign policy and to unpack the dilemmas and strategic quandaries facing the Islamic Republic today. Ross Harrison argues that to understand Iranian behavior it is essential to look at it from the perspective of Iran’s strategic interests, namely: its capabilities; how Iran interprets the region, the international community and itself; and the state’s conception of time and territory in its foreign policy calculations. Iranian foreign policy - in searching for a winning strategy for power and influence - is revealed to evince ideological strains but also realpolitik considerations based on current interpretations of the national interest. These different strains in Iran’s foreign policy represent the complexity of the challenges and opportunities the state faces. They also help us to understand the present and future of Iranian foreign policy behavior.

Ross Harrison is Senior Fellow and Director of Research at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC, USA. He is also a member of faculty at the Department of Political Science in the University of Pittsburgh, USA. His books include Strategic Thinking in 3D: A Guide for National Security, Foreign Policy and Business Professionals (2013) and From Chaos to Cooperation: Toward Regional Order in the Middle East (2017) and he co-edited with Paul Salem, Escaping the Conflict Trap: Toward Ending Civil Wars in the Middle East (2019). He has written numerous articles on Middle East Affairs in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The National Interest, Parameters and Orient.