The Foreign Service Journal, November 2009

N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 9 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 25 what would happen if negotiations were to be initi- ated? How can they be conducted successfully? In a clear, methodical treatment of Iranian engage- ment, Ambassador John Limbert throws light on the an- swers to such questions. He presents four historical case studies of both success and failure to show enduring trends of Iranian thought, self-perception and behavior germane to future negotiations: the Azerbaijani crisis of 1945-1947, the oil nationalization crisis of 1951-1953, the American Embassy hostage crisis of 1979-1981 and the Lebanon hostage crisis of 1985-1991. Based on what these analyses reveal, Amb. Limbert offers 14 principles to guide any American negotiating with an Iranian counterpart —whether the talks are po- litical, commercial or otherwise. In conclusion, he chal- lenges both Americans and Iranians to end decades of mutually hostile mythmaking. John W. Limbert, a retired Senior FSO, was ambas- sador to Mauritania and deputy coordinator for coun- terterrorism. He received the highest honor of the State Department, the Distinguished Service Award, and the Award for Valor after spending 14 months as a hostage in Iran. A former AFSA president, he is now a profes- sor of international affairs at the U.S. Naval Academy. The Next American Century: How the U.S. Can Thrive as Other Powers Rise Nina Hachigian and Mona Sutphen, Simon & Schuster, 2008, $26, hardcover, 368 pages. In The Next American Century: How the U.S. Can Thrive as Other Powers Rise , two young foreign policy thinkers — “whose political coming-of-age was marked by the fall of the BerlinWall, not the war in Viet- nam,” as they note in the preface — collaborate on a compelling argument to abandon the “pure zero-sum days of great power relations” in favor of a policy based on strategic collaboration. Nina Hachigian and Mona Sutphen argue that instead of worrying about how and when the new, rising powers will diminish U.S. power, Washington should focus on how cooperation with these powers can further American security, ideology and prosperity. The avenue to a truly safer and more prosperous