Brenda Shaffer Livres

Energy Politics provides a broad introduction to the ways in which energy affects domestic and regional political developments.

Focusing on ethnic identity, this book explores the experiences of Azerbaijanis in both Iran and the former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan. It examines cultural, social, and political factors that shape their identities, highlighting the complexities of belonging and the impact of historical contexts on these communities. Through in-depth analysis, the work sheds light on the nuances of Azerbaijani identity across different geopolitical landscapes.

In theory, the Islamic Republic should have brought some fraternity to Iran's peoples, especially to the minorities who had engaged in insurgencies against the heavy-handedness of the Pahlavi shahs (1925-1979). That has not happened. The Persianization and centralization of the Iranian state have continued under the clerics. In practice, Islamization has been the obverse side of Persianization. Persianizing Islamists are an unintended tribute to the Pahlavis' success in creating a national identity from a recovered, reanimated past. To the ethnic minorities who are more agnostic, mystical, or anti-clerical (a large number among the Shia), the Islamic Republic's Persianization may even seem more onerous and insulting than that of the Pahlavi shahs. This monograph attempts to fill a serious void in English-language scholarship about Iran's ethnic diversity.

In recent years, analysts of world affairs have suggested that cultural interests--ethnicity, religion, and ideology--play a primary role in patterns of conflict and alliances, and that in the future the clash of civilizations will dominate international relations. The Limits of Culture explores the effect of culture on foreign policy, focusing on countries in the geopolitically important Caspian region and paying particular attention to those states that have identified themselves as Islamic republics--Iran, Taliban Afghanistan, and Pakistan. The contributors to The Limits of Culture find that, contrary to the currently popular view, culture is rarely more important than other factors in shaping the foreign policies of countries in the Caspian region. They find that ruling regimes do not necessarily act according to their own rhetoric. Iran, for example, can conduct policies that contradict the official state ideology without suffering domestic retribution. Also, countries frequently align with one another when they do not share religious beliefs or cultural heritage. For example, Christian Armenia cooperates on trade and security with non-Christian Iran. Cultural identities, the contributors find, are flexible enough to enable states to pursue a wide range of policies that are consistent with their material interests. As the essays in The Limits of Culture make clear, the emerging foreign policies of the Caspian states present a significant challenge to the culturalist argument.