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Tehran believes itself to be embroiled in a "soft war." "Countering the soft war is the main priority for us today," said Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei soon after the disputed presidential elections of 2009. "In a soft war the enemy tries to make use of advanced cultural and communication tools to spread lies and rumors." What is this "soft war?" How did it emerge in Iranian discourse? This paper will trace the genesis of the term in Iranian politics from pre-revolutionary Iran to 2012. It will argue that the "soft war" is the latest iteration of a long-standing myth, in which outside powers seek to dominate Iranian identity and sovereignty through cultural means.

Cover -- Contents -- Figures -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Part I Pahlavi and the Making of the mass Communication System -- Chapter 1 The Birth of the Mass Communication Monopoly -- Chapter 2 Mass Communication in Revolution and Regime Building -- Part II A Different Sort of War: The Crisis of Satellite TV -- Chapter 3 Prelude to a Crisis -- Chapter 4 The Crisis of Satellite TV -- Chapter 5 The Big Dish: Direct Broadcast Satellite, Symbolism, and the Politics of Culture -- Part III Soft War: The Politics of the Internet -- Chapter 6 Enter the Internet -- Chapter 7 The 2009 Election Crisis -- Chapter 8 After the Crisis: Soft War and the '88 Fitnah -- Chapter 9 The National Internet -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.