{"product_id":"self-fulfilling-prophecy-book-katherine-harvey-9780197631324","title":"A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy","description":"In recent years, the geopolitical rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran has dominated the headlines. Many have charted the polarisation between a Saudi-led Sunni camp and an Iranian-led Shia one, assuming that a predominantly Shia state like Iraq would automatically ally with Iran. In this compelling account, Katherine Harvey tells a different story: Iraq's current alignment with Iran was not a foregone conclusion. Rather, Saudi efforts to undermine Iran have paradoxically empowered it.Harvey investigates why the Saudis refused to engage with Iraq's post-2003 Shia-led government, despite continual outreach by Iraq's new leaders and considerable pressure from the United States. She finds that certain deeply ingrained assumptions predisposed Saudi leaders to see a Shia-led Iraq as naturally beholden to Iran: the view that Iran is inherently expansionist, and the belief that Arab Shia tend to be loyal to it. This outlook was simplistic, even downright inaccurate; and, in refusing to engage, the Saudis created a self-fulfilling prophecy.As Harvey demonstrates, members of Iraq's new government initially sought to establish a positive relationship with Saudi Arabia, and to pursue a course independent from Iran. But, isolated and rejected by Saudi King Abdullah, Iraq ultimately had nowhere else to turn.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50345526690065,"sku":"CIN0197631320G","price":20.64,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":50999967580433,"sku":"NIN9780197631324","price":49.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0197631320.jpg?v=1751355795","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/products\/self-fulfilling-prophecy-book-katherine-harvey-9780197631324","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}