1. How the Axis of Evil Metaphor Changes Iranian Images of the USA
- Author:
- Daniel Heradstveit and G. Matthew Bonham
- Publication Date:
- 06-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- The respondents feared an American attack, and regarded their membership in «the Axis of Evil» as a stab in the back after Iranian help in Afghanistan. This demonisation was seen overwhelmingly in terms of American geopolitical designs, ignorance and downright irrationality – an expansionist superpower that is dangerously out of control. The WTC attack initially caused a strengthening of Iranian national unity and a more coherent foreign policy, but most of the respondents regard «the Axis of Evil» as killing the nascent dialogue with the USA stone dead and coming as a godsend to the conservatives and the ultras.
- Topic:
- International Relations and Foreign Policy
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, America, Iran, and Middle East