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 PORTLAND,
Maine - July 17 - Waterville native and Portland resident Eric Hooglund, a
politics professor at Bates College and President of Peace Action Maine, has
returned from his most recent trip to Iran. Upon his return, he called for
diplomatic negotiations between the US and Iranian governments, and expressed
concern about the introduction of resolutions into both houses of the US
Congress that would authorize the President to initiate a naval blockade of
Iran. "A naval blockade is a hostile action, and international law experts
equate it to be a de facto declaration of war. I am quite alarmed that the
members of Maine's congressional delegation actually have signed onto this
resolution, which gives the Bush administration cover for military action
against Iran."
Professor Hooglund is an academic
authority on the culture and politics of Iran. In addition to teaching classes
on US foreign policy and the politics of class, ethnicity and gender in Muslim
countries at Bates, he is editor of the internationally acclaimed,
interdisciplinary and scholarly journal, Critique: Critical Middle Eastern
Studies. He travels to Iran annually to conduct research and to attend
international conferences there.
With reference to his most recent
trip, Professor Hooglund stated, "There is much irony in how Iranians view the
'confrontation' with the United States. First most Iranians tend to have a
positive view of Americans and American culture. Second, Iranians are concerned
about the hostile rhetoric that comes from the Bush administration and are
perplexed by allegations that their country poses a threat to the United States.
Third, the majority of Iranians with whom I spoke recognize how militarily weak
their country is against the United States and fear the damage and destruction
that possible US air-strikes could do to their towns."
Hooglund's numerous publications
include 5 books on Iran and 3 others on general Middle East themes, plus more
than 100 scholarly articles published as book chapters or journal articles. His
most recent publications include Iran, A Country Study (co-edited with
Glenn Curtis, GPO, 2008); ); Biographical Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle
East (associate editor for Iran and Afghanistan, with Michael Fischbach,
general editor, Gale Thomsen, 2007); "Iran, Wary Neutral," in Fawn Hinnebusch,
editors, The Iraq War: Causes and Consequences (2006).
Eric Hooglund is available for
Interviews
CONTACT:
Peace Action Maine
info@peaceactionme.org
... Payvand News - 07/18/08 ...
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