US Foreign Policy and the Iran Hostage Crisis

by David Patrick Houghton

Overview

Why did Iranian students seize the American embassy in Tehran in 1979? Why did the Carter administration launch a rescue mission, and why did it fail so spectacularly? This book answers these and other puzzles using an analogical reasoning approach that highlights the role of historical analogies in decision making. Using interviews with key decision makers on both sides, Houghton provides an original analysis of one of the United States' greatest foreign policy disasters of recent years. The book will interest students and scholars of foreign policy analysis and international relations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521801164
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	06/07/2001
Series:	Cambridge Studies in International Relations , #75
Pages:	270
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.63(d)
Lexile:	1720L (what's this?)

Table of Contents

Preface; 1. Jimmy Carter and the tragedy of foreign policy; 2. Locating the argument: a review of the existing literature; 3. The origins of the crisis; 4. The waiting game; 5. Days of decision: the hostage rescue mission; 6. Hostages to history; 7. Some alternative explanations: non-analogical accounts of the Iran decision-making; 8. Conclusions; Appendix I. Dramatis personae; Appendix II. The major historical analogies used; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"Houghton has produced an excellent, in-depth study of the Iranian hostage crisis, making outstanding use of new material about policy/decision makers' perceptions...A superb book." CHOICE

"...the book provides a clear account of the analogical reasoning model and uses available sources well to provide an interesting description of the deliberations in the Carter administration surrounding the Iranian hostage crisis." Political Science Quarterly

"Well-organized and well-written, Houghton provides a clear and persuasive understanding of the Iran hostage crisis and the important role of cognitive-analogical reasoning." International Politics

"...Houghton has written an intersting and thought-provoking book on an important subject that raises a number of compelling questions for future research." American Political Science Review

From the Publisher