BOOK
REVIEW Decoding the enigmatic
Republic of Iran Bitter Friends,
Bosom Enemies by Barbara
Slavin
Reviewed by Khody Akhavi
WASHINGTON - Condoleezza Rice was in a
triumphant mood the day Baghdad fell in April
2003, writes journalist Barbara Slavin in her new
book, Bitter Friends, Bosom Enemies.
After summoning 18 high-level George W
Bush administration officials to a boardroom in
the West Wing of the White House, the
then-national security
advisor opened the meeting by emphatically
declaring, "We're going to fix the Middle East
just the way we fixed Europe after World War II."
Four years later, the Iraq quagmire has
marred the Bush administration's vision for a
"new" Middle East, and analysts say that the
Islamic Republic of Iran has been the main
beneficiary of Washington's foreign policy
nightmare. While the wall of hubris that enveloped
the White House in the immediate post-September
11, 2001, climate has cracked, the
Bush administration shows no signs of relenting
against the US's long-time rival and former friend
in the region.
In remarks that are certain
to further escalate tensions, Bush recently warned
that if Iran obtained nuclear weapons, it could
lead to "World War III".
The
saber-rattling is just the latest chapter in the
saga of US-Iranian diplomatic relations, which
have remained officially moribund since student
protestors seized the US Embassy in Tehran at the
height of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Many
journalists have written about the Iranian regime
since then, about its ambitions and weaknesses,
and the images conjured are anything but positive
- bearded fundamentalists calling for "Death to
America", disenfranchized women, and the fiery and
bewildering Holocaust statements of populist
President Mahmud Ahmadinejad.
But few
reporters have contributed an account with the
breadth and nuance of Slavin. In Bitter
Friends, Bosom Enemies, the USA Today senior
correspondent unravels the paradoxes of an Iranian
political system and culture that exhibit far more
pluralism and (gasp!) freedom than some of
Washington's closest regional allies.
Without losing sight of the brutality of
the Islamic Republic and its authoritarian
tendencies, Slavin presents a multifaceted Iranian
point of view, skillfully weaving the statements
of high-level Iranian diplomats with the hopes and
fears of everyday Iranian people, trapped in the
axis of religion, politics and national pride.
Slavin describes Iran's unique system of
government as "a square dance", in which the
highly fractionalized clerical circle, with
strongly conflicting views on foreign and domestic
policies, competes for the Supreme Leader's favor.
"Depending on the issue, the leader draws
one group or person into the center of the circle,
then switches to another in a kind of political
do-si-do. No figure is banished for good so long
as it remains loyal to the leader and the system;
all in the circle have the chance to influence
government decisions," writes Slavin. "The dance
can be slow and awkward and the steps can change
in unpredictable ways."
In 1997, the
unpredictable dance brought the reformist
movement, spearheaded by president Mohammad
Khatami, to the center of the circle and into the
crosshairs of the clerical establishment.
Khatami's ability to mobilize Iran's young voting
constituency yielded 70% of the eligible voting
public, of which 80% flocked to the polls to cast
their vote. During the mild-mannered cleric's
tenure, Iranians flirted with press freedoms,
eased restrictions of the hypermoral space, and
engaged in contentious political elections.
However, with the ascendance of
Ahmadinejad, a "man of the people" who promised to
fight corruption and put Iran's oil wealth on the
tables of normal Iranians, the past two years have
witnessed dramatic reversals in the political
gains made by Khatami. And Slavin dedicates an
entire chapter of her book to the blacksmith's son
who became Iran's president, portraying the leader
as a critic of the very establishment from which
he emerged.
One of the current president's
childhood friend's, Majid Karimi, told Slavin that
Ahmadinejad "was a bookish overachiever who was so
conscientious that he used to do homework in
between pickup soccer games." He didn't drink,
smoke or chase girls, was a diligent student who
scored well on the state university entrance exam.
But the president has also come under attack
domestically for his bewildering rhetoric and
mismanagement of Iran's economy.
Saeed
Laylaz, a former deputy minister under Khatami,
tells Slavin that the new chief executive "behaves
like a rebel, not a president. Is it his job to
say that Adolf Hitler was a clean guy? Is the
Holocaust a real problem for the Iranian people?
... He will collapse this country in the long
term."
Ahmadinejad is part of the
Abadgaran, or "developers' coalition", a new
political faction that attracted religious
fundamentalists, including some members of Iran's
paramilitary Revolutionary Guard unit and the
Bassij (mobilized ones).
In Slavin's book,
even the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps -
which is alleged by the White House to be a major
terrorist sponsor throughout the region - cannot
not be reduced to a monolithic ideological force.
There are many diverging views within the
organization, and "the leadership tilts to the
right while the rank and file are more moderate".
As Slavin writes, "In 1997, 70% of the
Guards - 4% more than the general electorate -
voted for Khatami."
Slavin's access to
high-level Bush administration contacts provides
the most lucid explanation of White House policy -
or lack thereof - towards Iran. Throughout the
book, she exposes the internal divisions in Bush's
policy circle, with the hawkish Vice President
Dick Cheney to one side, and more pragmatic
policy-makers such as Richard Haass, former
secretary of state Colin Powell and others.
But it is the last three chapters that
make this book a timely and essential read for
those eager to clear the fog from what has been a
highly charged and often misunderstood
relationship between Iran and the United States.
And Slavin provides an honest portrait of a
twisted path the US has taken towards
confrontation and the opportunities it has missed
along the way. Whether a grand bargain can be
struck between the two countries remains to be
seen, but increasingly it appears unlikely.
In the final vignette, Slavin interviews
Mojde Robabei, as she shops for buttons in an
impoverished neighborhood of Tehran, and it is
scenes such as this that underscore the
ambivalence felt by most Iranians as they prepare
to face the consequences of decisions beyond their
control.
"We have a special respect for
Americans," says Robabei. "When my children watch
TV they always say the people of the US are very
good but their government is bad ... Bush and the
US should not force their ways on us ... We don't
want anything bad to happen. Pray for us. We
always pray for you."
Bitter Friends,
Bosom Enemies: Iran, the US and the Twisted Path
to Confrontation by Barbara Slavin. St
Martin's Press (October 16, 2007) . ISBN-10:
0312368259. Price US$24,95, 272 pages.
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has cracked, the
Bush administration shows no signs of relenting
against the US's long-time rival and former friend
in the region. 
