Iran has come to the forefront of media and policy discussion in recent years due to the renewal of nuclear prospects within the complex nation. The media and much of the west has taken notice of the situation and made predictions and assertions often leading toward nuclear war between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran. However, the west often forgets our relationship with Iran when Muhammad Reza Shah, the last of the Shah's, was in power. From 1941 to 1979 the United States enjoyed peaceful relations with Iran; the two nations even reached a certain economic prosperity with each other. The Shah introduced reform that was pleasurable to the United States and in return, America traded and invested in Iran, including establishing a nuclear program in Iran and building a number of nuclear facilities. In 2005 when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, formally the mayor of Tehran, was elected the great eye of the United States turned once again to Iran, viewing it as a threat.
This study explores the Shah's rule and Ahmadinejad's presidency; and perhaps more importantly, the American foreign policy that was established for both. A brief history of both Iranian leaders, their complexities; the external and internal factors that effected each individually and as a leader of the great nation will be followed by a comparison of both using the foreign policy of the United States as a medium for comparison. This thesis will perhaps expose an often ignored perspective on American Iranian foreign relations.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:honorstheses1990-2015-1635 |
| Date | 01 January 2007 |
| Creators | Freeman, Emily |
| Publisher | STARS |
| Source Sets | University of Central Florida |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | HIM 1990-2015 |
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