Table Of ContentAmerican-Iranian Dialogues
New Approaches to International History
Series Editor:
Thomas Zeiler, Professor of American Diplomatic History,
University of Colorado Boulder, USA
Series Editorial Board:
Anthony Adamthwaite, University of California at Berkeley (USA)
Kathleen Burk, University College London (UK)
Louis Clerc, University of Turku (Finland)
Petra Goedde, Temple University (USA)
Francine McKenzie, University of Western Ontario (Canada)
Lien-Hang Nguyen, University of Kentucky (USA)
Jason Parker, Texas A&M University (USA)
Glenda Sluga, University of Sydney (Australia)
New Approaches to International History covers international history during the modern
period and across the globe. The series incorporates new developments in the field,
such as the cultural turn and transnationalism, as well as the classical high politics of
state-centric policymaking and diplomatic relations. Written with upper level
undergraduate and postgraduate students in mind, texts in the series provide
an accessible overview of international diplomatic and transnational issues,
events and actors.
Published:
Decolonization and the Cold War, edited by Leslie James and Elisabeth Leake (2015)
Cold War Summits, Chris Tudda (2015)
The United Nations in International History, Amy Sayward (2017)
Latin American Nationalism, James F. Siekmeier (2017)
The History of United States Cultural Diplomacy, Michael L. Krenn (2017)
International Cooperation in the Early 20th Century, Daniel Gorman (2017)
Women and Gender in International History, Karen Garner (2018)
International Development, Corinna Unger (2018)
The Environment and International History, Scott Kaufman (2018)
Canada and the World since 1867, Asa McKercher (2019)
Scandinavia and the Great Powers in the First World War, Michael Jonas (2019)
The First Age of Industrial Globalization: An International History 1815–1918, Maartje
Abbenhuis and Gordon Morrell (2019)
Forthcoming:
The International LGBT Rights Movement, Laura Belmonte
Reconstructing the Postwar World, Francine McKenzie
The History of Oil Diplomacy, Christopher R. W. Dietrich
Global War, Global Catastrophe, Maartje Abbenhuis and Ismee Tames
American-Iranian Dialogues
From Constitution to White Revolution,
c. 1890s–1960s
Edited by
Matthew K. Shannon
BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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BLOOMSBURY, BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC and the Diana logo are
trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
First published in Great Britain 2022
Copyright © Matthew K. Shannon, 2022
Matthew K. Shannon has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Editor of this work.
Cover image: Christine and Michael Westberg pictured in the early 1960s with a group of Iranians
at the Shah Abdol-Azim Shrine in Rey, Iran. Photograph taken by
John A. Westberg and courtesy of Christine Westberg
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Shannon, Matthew K., 1983– editor.
Title: American-Iranian dialogues : from constitution to White Revolution,
c. 1890s–1960s / edited by Matthew K. Shannon.
Other titles: From constitution to White Revolution, c. 1890s–1960s
Description: London ; New York : Bloomsbury Academic, 2021. |
Series: New approaches to international history |
Includes bibliographical references and index.|
Identifiers: LCCN 2020055552 (print) | LCCN 2020055553 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781350118720 (hb) | ISBN 9781350118737 (ePDF) |
ISBN 9781350118744 (eBook)
Subjects: LCSH: United States–Relations–Iran. | Iran–Relations–United States. |
Iran–History–20th century.
Classification: LCC E183.8.I55 A624 2021 (print) |
LCC E183.8.I55 (ebook) | DDC 327.73055–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020055552
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020055553
ISBN: HB: 978-1-3501-1872-0
ePDF: 978-1-3501-1873-7
eBook: 978-1-3501-1874-4
Series: New Approaches to International History
Typeset by Newgen KnowledgeWorks Pvt. Ltd., Chennai, India
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Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Series Editor Preface viii
Acknowledgments ix
Note on Transliteration x
Introduction: Toward Connected History 1
Matthew K. Shannon
1 Flags of Inconvenience: State Failure, Nationhood, and Contested
Sovereignty in the Late Qajar Encounter with the United States 17
John Ghazvinian
2 The Shuster Mission of 1911 and American Perceptions of Iran’s First
Revolution 33
Kelly J. Shannon
3 Heritage Diplomacy and US-Iran Relations: The Case of the Iranian
Antiquities Law of 1930 57
Kyle Olson
4 Pandering in the Persian Gulf: Arabia, Iran, and Anglo-American
Relations, 1900–71 73
Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet
5 De-Nationalized: Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Consortium, and Global
Oil, 1954–64 95
Gregory Brew
6 Alborz, Bethel, and Community: Missionary Institutions in Postwar Tehran 113
Matthew K. Shannon
7 American Academics and US Technical Aid for Iranian Modernization 131
Richard Garlitz
8 “We Learned How to Be Friends”: What Oral History Tells Us about the
American Peace Corps in Iran 149
Jasamin Rostam-Kolayi
9 “Support the 41”: Iranian Student Activism in Northern
California, 1970–3 167
Ida Yalzadeh
vi Contents
10 Professional Transnationalism and Iranian-American Im/mobility in
Michigan 183
Camron Michael Amin
Conclusion: Third Parties, Non/State Actors, and the Ambiguities of US
Imperial Power 203
Cyrus Schayegh
Bibliography 221
Notes on Contributors 225
Index 229
Illustrations
Figures
5.1 Middle East oil production, 1951–61 104
5.2 Revenues from oil (millions of US$), 1948–60 104
5.3 Consortium nominations (thousands bpd), 1957–66 105
C.1 “Netayej-e siasi-ye mah-e masnuʿi” 208
C.2 “Har do bi-raqib-and. Eshkoda dar zamin va qamar-e masnuʿi
dar āsemān” 209
Table
3.1 Periodization of the Early History of Iranian Archaeology 58
Series Editor Preface
New Approaches to International History takes the entire world as its stage for exploring
the history of diplomacy, broadly conceived theoretically and thematically, and writ
large across the span of the globe, during the modern period. This series goes beyond
the single goal of explaining encounters in the world. Our aspiration is that these
books provide both an introduction for researchers new to a topic and supplemental
and essential reading in classrooms. Thus, New Approaches serves a dual purpose
that is unique from other large-scale treatments of international history; it applies
to scholarly agendas and pedagogy. In addition, it does so against the backdrop of a
century of enormous change, conflict, and progress that informed global history but
also continues to reflect on our own times.
The series offers the old and new diplomatic history to address a range of topics
that shaped the twentieth century. Engaging in international history (including but
not especially focusing on global or world history), these books will appeal to a range
of scholars and teachers situated in the humanities and social sciences, including those
in history, international relations, cultural studies, politics, and economics. We have in
mind scholars, both novice and veteran, who require an entrée into a topic, trend, or
technique that can benefit their own research or education into a new field of study by
crossing boundaries in a variety of ways.
By its broad and inclusive coverage, New Approaches to International History is also
unique because it makes accessible to students current research, methodology, and
themes. Incorporating cutting-edge scholarship that reflects trends in international
history, as well as addressing the classical high politics of state-centric policymaking and
diplomatic relations, these books are designed to bring alive the myriad of approaches
for digestion by advanced undergraduate and graduate students. In preparation for the
New Approaches series, Bloomsbury surveyed courses and faculty around the world
to gauge interest and reveal core themes of relevance for their classroom use. The
polling yielded a host of topics, from war and peace to the environment; from empire
to economic integration; and from migration to nuclear arms. The effort proved that
there is a much-needed place for studies that connect scholars and students alike to
international history, and books that are especially relevant to the teaching missions of
faculty around the world.
We hope readers find this series to be appealing, challenging, and thought-
provoking. Whether the history is viewed through older or newer lenses, New
Approaches to International History allows students to peer into the modern period’s
complex relations among nations, people, and events to draw their own conclusions
about the tumultuous, interconnected past.
Thomas Zeiler, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA
Acknowledgments
There are, quite naturally, many people to thank for getting an edited volume to press.
First and foremost, I am thankful for my fellow contributors. After signing on to the
project in 2018, they sustained their personal health and professional commitments
through a global pandemic to write chapters that are intellectually stimulating,
methodologically rigorous, and, quite simply, fascinating.
Beyond those names that grace the table of contents, Bloomsbury provided
opportunity, advice, and support. I thank Thomas Zeiler for the invitation to contribute
to New Approaches to International History, an important series for scholars wishing to
explore new research lines and areas of inquiry. Abigail Lane was a magnificent editor
who, along with Maddie Holder and the copy-editing and production teams, ensured
that deadlines were met. The peer reviewers helped sharpen the framing, as did James
Goode, who connected authors and provided early advice on the concept. I owe a
special debt of gratitude to Kyle Olson for doing transliteration work for the entire
volume and for explaining the scheme on the adjacent page. Finally, I am grateful to
the universities, centers, and organizations that, between 2018 and 2021, provided
forums where various combinations of contributors discussed the research featured
in this book.
Matthew K. Shannon
Abingdon, VA
Spring 2021
