Table of Contents

Introduction The Era of Tsarist Expansionism From the Russian Revolution to World War II The Second World War Period The Era of Muhammad Reza Shah The Era of the Ayatollahs Epilogue Bibliography Index

About the Author

MARTIN SICKER is the author of The Strategy of Soviet Imperialism (Praeger, 1988), The Making of a Pariah State: The Adventurist Policies of Muammar Qaddafi (Praeger, 1987), and The Judaic State: A Study in Rabbinic Political Theory (Praeger, 1988).

Reviews

?This timely volume by Sicker, a political scientist and a former senior executive of the US government, is primarily concerned with the examination of the context and character of the current Soviet interest in Iran, particularly from the perspective of the global implications of that interest. Much of the book is devoted to a study of the historical continuity of Russian imperialist policy with respect to Iran from Peter the Great to the present. Sicker claims that the character and significance of Soviet aims and policies with respect to Iran can only be deduced from the history of the past two centuries, not from the events of the last two decades. Furthermore, he argues that the Soviet interest in Iran is now taking on strategic dimensions that dwarf the previous significance of that country to the Russians. While the US has but the most tenuous of toeholds in the region and none at all in Iran--its strategically most important state--Soviet imperialism is very much alive and operative. Soviet strategy is oriented toward shifting the balance of power in its favor by ensuring the loss of American influence and position in the region. For upper-level students and faculty.?-Choice

"This timely volume by Sicker, a political scientist and a former senior executive of the US government, is primarily concerned with the examination of the context and character of the current Soviet interest in Iran, particularly from the perspective of the global implications of that interest. Much of the book is devoted to a study of the historical continuity of Russian imperialist policy with respect to Iran from Peter the Great to the present. Sicker claims that the character and significance of Soviet aims and policies with respect to Iran can only be deduced from the history of the past two centuries, not from the events of the last two decades. Furthermore, he argues that the Soviet interest in Iran is now taking on strategic dimensions that dwarf the previous significance of that country to the Russians. While the US has but the most tenuous of toeholds in the region and none at all in Iran--its strategically most important state--Soviet imperialism is very much alive and operative. Soviet strategy is oriented toward shifting the balance of power in its favor by ensuring the loss of American influence and position in the region. For upper-level students and faculty."-Choice