Iran–USA Relations: From Exceptionalism to Containment Policy

Since making it out as the most powerful nation following the Second World War, Washington has demonstrated and employed two independent yet interlocking policies of Exceptionalism and Containment in its foreign policy. American exceptionalism is ingrained in its pride as the most powerful military and economic power, and a champion of democracy. While Washington sees itself as exceptional, it also believes that the fruition of its national interest and strategic objectives depends on bestowing friendly states with exceptional code. To place the discussion in perspective, we take Iran as a case study and explore the transition of Iran from being a recipient of American exceptional code, a strategic tool of American containment policy, to becoming an object of containment itself. The article applies George Kennan’s exceptionalism and containment strategy on USA–Iran relations in both Shah’s rule and post-revolution era. We conclude that decades of US exceptionalism in the region have multiplied into regional challenges for the USA itself and raised the importance of Iran and increased its security threats.