Automotive culture and industry as a means of diplomacy through public influence in Iran by British and American corporations and policymakers, 1941-86

Abstract

Between 1941 and 1986, British and American policymakers worked with corporate executives in the automotive industry towards the development of automotive production and sales, and the creation and dissemination of automotive culture within Iran across the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah (194179) and the Islamic Republic (1979-present). This co-operation occurred mostly through private initiative, with unofficial support from both governments. It achieved mixed results, mainly constituted of subsidies towards joint venture establishment to produce CKD vehicles. It occurred in context of the simultaneous processes of Britain’s decolonization and transition towards an informal economic empire and America’s emergence as a global superpower, situated amidst the promotion of consumerism as an Allied and Western Bloc strategy during the Second World War and the Cold War.

Sources show the mechanisms of co-operations, disagreements and compromises within the Special Relationship regarding the appropriate extent of influence of British and American policymakers, corporations and observers upon social and economic policy to fund Britain’s decolonisation and America’s hegemonic quest. Consumerist demand was created and Iran became an essential customer of the American and (especially) British automotive industries. However, both countries frequently disregarded evidence of dissatisfaction with supply delays, reckless driving and the use of the automobile in crime and terrorism, and disregarded shortcomings in the Shah’s automotive development policies until the Chrysler Crisis of 1975-6. Recent scholarship suggests that the exceptional cordiality of the Special Relationship during the second half of the twentieth century occurred out of a pragmatic desire to secure as much funding and public support for British decolonisation and American rising hegemony. This thesis shows that such pragmatism, while sometimes misguided, amounted to a balancing act between the profit interests of corporations, Iranian consumerist demands, and a fanciful and often incompetent Shah.

Date of Award	4 Dec 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of St Andrews
Supervisor	Siavush Randjbar-Daemi (Supervisor) & Ali Massoud Ansari (Supervisor)