IMAGINING IRAN: ORIENTALISM AND SECURITY DEVELOPMENT IN AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY By JONATHON WHOOLEY A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2015 © 2015 Jonathon Whooley To my son Miles Michael Whooley, all of this effort has been for you ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, I would like to acknowledge my parents and in-laws without their support I would never have been able to complete this document. Second, acknowledgment should be given to my wife Isabella Whooley your time, patience, and significant efforts have made this a reality. Third, Dr. Laura Sjoberg and my dissertation committee, Professor Ido Oren, Dr. Zachary Selden, Dr. Patricia Woods, and Dr. Matthew Jacobs, who have guided me through this process with precise criticism, pointed direction, and the most supportive and incredible kindness. Fourth, further acknowledgment should be given to the faculty of San Francisco State University, especially Dr. Sophie Clavier and Dr. Mahmood Monshipouri, your dedication to my future as an academic, teacher, and scholar has made all the difference in the world. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the University of Florida, my time in Gainesville has enabled me to believe that I actually could become something more than I was before. I am proud to be a Gator. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... 7 CHAPTER 1 SECURITY NARRATIVES AND AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY ............................ 9 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 9 Structure ................................................................................................................. 13 2 RESEARCH DESIGN ............................................................................................. 21 Concept Building Identity Construction, Narratives, and NeoOrientalism ............... 23 Orientalism and Post Orientalism ..................................................................... 25 How Narratives are Created and Persist, and how they Constrain American Foreign Policy ............................................................................................... 27 Theoretical Framework ........................................................................................... 29 Producing Narratives: Methodological Challenges and Possibilities ....................... 30 Methodology ........................................................................................................... 32 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 40 3 FOREIGN POLICY AND IDEATIONAL CONSTRUCTION WITHIN THE JOHNSON ADMINISTRATION ............................................................................... 41 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 41 Lyndon Baines Johnson, the Individual and President ........................................... 42 Lyndon Baines Johnson and Reza shah Pahlavi .................................................... 44 The shah is Iran ...................................................................................................... 49 Imagining Discord: Opposition, Protest, and the Mindset of the Johnson Administration ...................................................................................................... 56 Regional and Global Strengths of a Close Relationship with Iran ........................... 61 4 FOREIGN POLICY AND IDEATIONAL CONSTRUCTION WITHIN THE NIXON ADMINISTRATION ................................................................................................. 69 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 69 Security transition: Losing the Balance: From Johnson to Nixon ............................ 74 The Regional and International Calculations of the Nixon administration ............... 80 Tension Among Un-equals: Nixon, the shah, and the Oil Embargo of 1973-1974 .. 84 Conclusion: The Conflicted Role of the ‘good Oriental’ ........................................... 87 5 5 SECURITY, FOREIGN POLICY, AND IDEATIONAL CONSTRUCTION WITHIN THE FORD ADMINISTRATION .............................................................................. 89 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 89 Nuclear Politics and the shah ................................................................................. 91 Military Co-Production with Iran and its Implications in the Ford White House ....... 99 Issues of Friction and Diplomacy within the Ford White House ............................ 103 Shifting Priorities and ‘the good Oriental’ .............................................................. 105 Conclusion: When ‘Good Orientals’ Go Bad ......................................................... 107 6 SECURITY, FOREIGN POLICY, AND IDEATIONAL CONSTRUCTION WITHIN THE CARTER ADMINISTRATION ....................................................................... 109 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 109 Stability Above All ................................................................................................. 120 The Hostage Taking and its Aftermath.................................................................. 127 Conclusion: The ‘Good Oriental’ goes Bad ........................................................... 139 7 FOREIGN POLICY AND IDEATIONAL CONSTRUCTION WITHIN THE REAGAN ADMINISTRATION ............................................................................... 142 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 142 Ending the Hostage Crisis .............................................................................. 144 Strategic Concerns and Context ..................................................................... 144 Intervention in Lebanon ........................................................................................ 154 The Iran-Contra Scandal ....................................................................................... 159 The Tanker War .................................................................................................... 166 Conclusion: The ‘Good Oriental’ as a belligerent nation ....................................... 169 8 CONCLUSION: THE ‘GOOD ORIENTAL’ AND AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY TOWARDS IRAN .................................................................................................. 172 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 172 The Pursuit of the ‘good Oriental’ ......................................................................... 184 APPENDIX: ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTS ..................................................................... 190 Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library................................................................ 190 Richard M. Nixon Presidential Library ................................................................... 191 Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library ...................................................................... 192 Jimmy Carter Presidential Library ......................................................................... 194 Ronald Reagan Presidential Library ..................................................................... 194 LIST OF REFERENCES ............................................................................................. 195 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................... 202 6 Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy IMAGINING IRAN: ORIENTALISM AND SECURITY DEVELOPMENT IN AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY By Jonathon Whooley December 2015 Chair: Laura Sjoberg Major: Political Science In light of the recent, dramatic thaw in Iranian-US relations, and with the Obama administration’s ground-breaking direct communications with their counterparts in the Rouhani administration, observers are left to wonder at the path and process of strategic diplomacy, engagement, and foreign policy construction. This dissertation constructs and assembles American foreign policy through the Orientalist descriptions of key actors within the Presidential administrations of Lyndon Baines Johnson through Ronald Reagan (1965-1989).The shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, and Iran as a nation fit this characterization with some alacrity. The shah was the good Oriental: he modernized, he secularized, he kept his people pliable, if not free, and was in general sensitive and willing to take on the foreign policy goals of the United States. With a few exceptions, moves by the shah discussed in Chapters Three and Four reveal his attempts to leverage oil prices during the administrations of Richard Nixon and Gerald R. Ford. In Chapter Five, the