An eye-opening argument for a new approach to Iran, from two of America's most informed and influential Middle East experts.
"Balanced, sober, impressively document, and rich in insight . . . a valuable antidote to the warmongering that passes for analysis of Iran and US-Iranian relations."—Andrew J. Bacevich, author of Breach of Trust
Less than a decade after Washington endorsed a fraudulent case for invading Iraq, similarly misinformed and politically motivated claims are pushing America toward war with Iran. Today the stakes are even higher: such a war could break the back of America's strained superpower status. Challenging the daily clamor of US saber rattling, Flynt and Hillary Mann Leverett argue that America should renounce thirty years of failed strategy and engage with Iran—just as Nixon revolutionized U.S. foreign policy by going to Beijing and realigning relations with China.
Former analysts in both the Bush and Clinton administrations, the Leveretts offer a uniquely informed account of Iran as it actually is today, not as many have caricatured it or wished it to be. They show that Iran's political order is not on the verge of collapse, that most Iranians still support the Islamic Republic, and that Iran's regional influence makes it critical to progress in the Middle East. Drawing on years of research and access to high-level officials, Going to Tehran explains how Iran sees the world and why its approach to foreign policy is hardly the irrational behavior of a rogue nation.
A bold call for new thinking, the Leveretts' indispensable work makes it clear that America must "go to Tehran" if it is to avert strategic catastrophe.
"There is a whole slew of highly dubious assumptions and narratives about Iran that are rarely challenged in any meaningful way in media circles. Going to Tehran is vital to thinking critically about these claims. . . . Because of their expertise and their long immersion in these issues, the Leveretts and this book deserve a prominent voice in any serious debate about Iran." —Glenn Greenwald, The Guardian
"Read this book. You'll find a lot of information that's not generally available, and valuable insights that are sharply at odds with conventional views in the United States. This book may help, if it's widely enough understood, to halt a very clear drift toward what could be a terrible war." —Noam Chomsky
