Overview

Why does the rift between the US and Iran persist? Iran and the United States have been at odds for forty years, locked in a cold war that has run the gamut. In Republics of Myth, Hussein Banai, Malcolm Byrne, and John Tirman argue that a major contributing factor to this tenacious enmity is how each nation views itself. Their often-deadly confrontation derives from the very different national narratives that shape their politics, actions, and vision of their own destiny in the world. The dominant American narrative is the myth of the frontier--that the US can tame it, tame its inhabitants, and nurture democracy as well. Iran, conversely, can claim two dominant myths: the first, an unbroken (but not for lack of trying) lineage back to Cyrus the Great, and the second, the betrayal of Imam Hussein, the Prophet's grandson. From the coup d'état that overthrew Iran's legitimate premier Mohammad Mosaddeq to the hostage crisis, the Iran-Iraq War, the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing, post-9/11 antagonisms, each episode illustrates anew the weight of historical narratives on present circumstances. Republics of Myth makes a major contribution to understanding this vital conflict.

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Hussein Banai is an assistant professor of international studies at Indiana University. John Tirman is the executive director and principal research scientist at the MIT Center for International Studies. Malcolm Byrne is the deputy director and research director of the National Security Archive at George Washington University. Chris Sorensen is a veteran audiobook narrator with over 160 titles to his name. He has received three AudioFile Earphones Awards, and his recording of Sent by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Recorded Books, LLC) was selected as one of the Best Audiobooks of 2010 by AudioFile magazine. He is a member of SAG-AFTRA and the APA. Chris has worked extensively as an actor, playwright and screenwriter. He studied at the Rutgers Professional Actor Training Program under William Esper, Edward Stern, and Maggie Flanigan. He is an original member of the Present Company, producers of FringeNYC. The Thin Air Theatre Company of Colorado considers him their playwright-at-large and has produced thirteen of his plays over the past twelve years. He has numerous optioned screenplays and has recently completed his first book for kids, The Mad Scientists of New Jersey.

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