The Ayatollah In the Cathedral: Reflections of a Hostage

Moorhead Kennedy, perhaps the most widely known of the hostages taken in Iran, waited five years to tell his story, in a careful, reasoned analysis of the U.S. Foreign Service, the philosophies that frame our foreign policies, and the forces that animate our career diplomats. Kennedy contends that U.S. society and government's inability to understand the difference between "modernization" (doing things with technology) and "Westernization" (doing things the Western way) is the basis for many woes in South America and the Middle East. Furthermore, he asserts, the targeting of the United States as the prime subject for terrorism is a result of our refusal or inability to take the concerns and existence of the Middle East seriously. Insightful, thought-provoking, and an absolute requirement for any serious study of modern foreign policy and international relations.