Becoming Enemies brings the unique methods of critical oral history, developed to study flashpoints from the Cold War such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, to understand U.S. and Iranian relations from the fall of the Shah in 1978 through the Iranian hostage crisis and the Iran-Iraq war. Scholars and former officials involved with U.S. and UN policy take a fresh look at U.S and Iranian relations during this time, with special emphasis on the U.S. role in the Iran-Iraq War. With its remarkable declassified documentation and oral testimony that bear directly on questions of U.S. policymaking with regard to the Iran-Iraq War, Becoming Enemies reveals much that was previously unknown about U.S. policy before, during, and after the war. They go beyond mere reportage to offer lessons regarding fundamental foreign policy challenges to the U.S. that transcend time and place.

Foreword: By Bruce Riedel.Part I: The U.S. and Iran: How "the Enemy Has Become Our Masterpiece."Prologue: Kierkegaard in the Desert: A Reader's Guide to Becoming Enemies.Dramatis Personae: Who's Who at the Musgrove Conference.Chapter One: How It Came to This: The Evolution of Dueling U.S. and Iranian Narratives.Part II: The Musgrove Conference: A Critical Oral History of the Origins of U.S.-Iranian Enmity.Chapter Two: The U.S. Confronts The Islamic Republic: The Origins of Enmity, 1979-1982.Chapter Three: The U.S. Tilt Toward Iraq: A Strategy for Avoiding a "Middle Eastern Armageddon."Chapter Four: "A World-Class Rogues' Gallery of Liars and Crooks": The Iran-Contra Affair.Chapter Five: "This Huge Crescendo of Pressures": Iraqi Resurgence in 1988 and Iranian Preparation for War with the U.S.Chapter Six: Khomeini Drinks the "Hemlock": How the United Nations Facilitated the End of the War.Part III: Revelations, Perspectives and Interpretations.Chapter Seven: Missed Opportunities? The Virtual History of U.S.-Iran Relations During the Iran-Iraq War.Epilogue: Takeaways: What Did We Learn From the Musgrove Dialogues?Appendix I: Chronology.Appendix II: Annotated Excerpts From Declassified Documents.Credits.Endnotes.Acronyms.Acknowledgments.About the Authors.Index.