On March 1, 2024, the Iran 1400 Project spoke with Dr. Andrew Thomas about his book Iran and the West: A Non-Western Approach to Foreign Policy. Dr. Thomas highlighted the contemporary relevance of native Iranian and non-Western perspectives to IR analysis. He examined four of Iran’s political encounters with the West, including its resistance to sanctions policy and negotiations surrounding its nuclear program, and argued that ignoring Iranian motivations of identity has routinely resulted in missed opportunities, growing tensions, and failed coercive policy. In the Q&A session, he discussed topics from how Iran’s antagonism with the West and Sunni states affects the Iranian people, continuities in foreign policy between the Pahlavi era and the Islamic Republic period, the arguments of non-Western perspectives like Marxism, and more.
Andrew Thomas is a lecturer in Middle East studies and international relations at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia. He specializes in critical non-Western international relations theory and counter-hegemonic perspectives.
