Israel, the United States, and the Antagonistic Identification of Iran

Table of Contents

Table of Figures

Acknowledgements 

Introduction 

The United States, Iran, and Israel: A Puzzling Obsession 

The Israel Factor

From Pro-Israel to Antagonizing Iran

Contributions

Book Lay Out

References 

1. From Securitization to Identification and Ordering Dynamics 

1.1.The Necessity of Identification and Securitization

1.2 The Struggle for Dominance: How Identifications Take Hold 

1.3 From Dominant Identification to Ordering Dynamics

1.4 Who Gets to Speak Security? Legitimacy, Authority, and Power

1.5 Words That Make Worlds: The Centrality of Discourse

1.6 Tracing the Threads: Methods for Studying Identification 

1.7 Conclusion

References 

2. The Background of the Israeli-American-Iranian Relations

2.1 From the Birth of Israel to Iranian Revolution and the Iran-Iraq War

2.2 From Clinton to Rabin and Netanyahu: How Israel Become Linked to Iran

2.3 9/11, the American Orientalist Discourse and the Israeli Activism

2.4 The Nuclear Issue: From Natanz and Arak to the JCPoA

2.5 Back to Step One? 

2.6 Orientalism, Imperialism, American Exceptionalism and Past Trauma: The Obvious Explanation? 

2.7 The Pro-Israel Network: What and Who are We Talking About? 

2.8 The Pro-Israel Network's Place in Foreign-Policy Advocacy in the US

References 

3. Israel and the US: "Suppory for Israel is an Expression of Americanism" 

3.1 The American Policymakers and the Dominance of the Pro-Isreal Identification

3.2 How is This Identification Sustained? 

3.3 Campaign Funding and the Role of PACs and SuperPACs

3.4 Stifling Criticisms 

3.5 Conclusions

References 

4. The Israeli Identification of Iran: The Political, Mediatic, and Expert Message

4.1 Netanyahu and Dermer: The Official Israeli Discourse on Iran in the United States

4.1.1 "Good" Against "Evil", "Humanity" Against "Barbarism" 

4.1.2 Emphasizing the US-Israel Alliance

4.1.3 Iran as The Antagonistic "Other" 

4.1.3.1 Iran's External Activities

4.1.3.2 Iran's Home Activities 

4.1.3.3 Iran's Nuclear Program

4.1.4 Identification in Context and its Consequences 

4.2 WINEP and FDD: The Discourse of the Pro-Israel Actors

4.2.1 WINEP'sm Discourse Thematic Analysis

4.2.2 FDD's Discourse Thematic Analysis

4.3 The Pro-Israel Actors and Expertise: Analysis of the Congressional Hearings on Iran 

4.4 Conclusion 

References 

5. From Pro-Israel to Anti-Iran: How the Two Identifications Are Tied Together 

5.1 Tying the Identification of Iran to the Israeli One: The Role of the Israeli Government 

5.2 Tying the Identification of Iran to the Israeli One: The Role of Lobbies

5.3 Think Tanks and the Fight for Information Monopoly: Congressional Testimonies and Vauled Expertise

5.4 Active Participation in Policymaking 

5.5 The Absence of a Counterpoint 

5.6 Israel's Centrality in the Identification of Iran

5.7 Either You are with Us or Against Us

5.8 Conclusion 

References

6 "Standing with Israel also Means Standing against [...] Iran" 

6.1 The American Discourse on Iran

6.2 The Pro-Israel -- Anti-Iran Association Within American Discourse 

6.3 The Field Comes to Order: Identification, Imposition and Coercion

6.4 Ordering the Field, Ordering the Relationship 

6.5 The Iran Deal: A Departure from the Antagonistic Identification?  

6.6 Is There an Alternative Identification Emerging?

6.7 Conclusion

References 

Conclusion

References 

Biography

Jérémy Dieudonné is a researcher and guest lecturer at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. His research focuses on the intersection of identity dynamics and security, as well as the discursive construction of international order. Drawing on constructivist IR theory, international political sociology, and critical security studies, he has published on securitization processes in the United States and the Middle East, as well as on the role of emotions in violent extremism.