Sybille Reinke de Buitrago: Self-Other Constructions, Difference and Threat: U.S. and Arab ‘Othering’ of Iran, in: Regional Insecurity After the Arab Uprisings, hrsg. von Elizabeth Monier. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan 2015, pp. 85-106
In her contribution, Sybille Reinke de Buitrago illustrates the constructions of Iran from the angle of the U.S. and three Arab states. U.S. security discourse but also that of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates construct Iran as threatening for the region and beyond, although with mostly distinct reasons. The U.S. discourse also shows shifts towards a softened image of Iran. This can in part be explained by changes on the Iranian side, and this trend could be strengthened after the agreement on Iran's nuclear programm in July 2015. The Syrian perspective, on the other side, shows Iran as strategic ally. The Arab uprisings, the so-called Arab Spring, have not substantially changed the (threat) perceptions.