Because of the sanctions, Iran has no option but to turn to Asian markets; yet this will not solve its oil-sales problem, since most Central Asian countries do not need Iranian oil.
Life and Thought
Sasan Fayazmanesh is an Iranian economist and Professor Emeritus of Economics at California State University, Fresno. His research focuses mainly on the political economy of the Middle East, Iran–United States relations, economic sanctions, and monetary history and theory.
Sasan Fayazmanesh, born in Iran in 1950, is an Iranian economist and Professor Emeritus of Economics at California State University, Fresno. Academic and bibliographical sources record his name as “Sasan Fayazmanesh,” and his university profile documents his teaching in areas including the history of economic thought, money and banking, and the political economy of the Middle East. He has also held a leadership role in the Middle East Studies Program at California State University, Fresno.
A major part of Fayazmanesh’s research concerns the history and theory of money. His book Money and Exchange: Folktales and Reality is one of his principal works in this field. It critically examines prevailing accounts of money’s origin in barter and revisits the theoretical foundations of exchange and money through Aristotle, scholastic economists, Adam Smith, Marx, Jevons, and Walras. University descriptions of his work also identify monetary history and theory, money and banking, the history and methodology of economic thought, and the philosophy of economics as his research areas.
Another major strand of Fayazmanesh’s work is the political economy of the Middle East, particularly relations between Iran and the United States. In The United States and Iran: Sanctions, Wars and the Policy of Dual Containment, published by Routledge in 2008, he examines the formation and evolution of the American policy of containing Iran, addressing the Iran–Iraq War, sanctions during the Clinton administration, and policies after September 11. Containing Iran: Obama’s Policy of “Tough Diplomacy” continues this research and analysis of U.S. policy toward Iran.
In addition to his academic books, Fayazmanesh has published numerous articles in specialist journals of economics and Middle East studies, as well as in analytical media. His recent work has continued to focus on U.S. foreign policy, Iran, sanctions, and conflicts in the Middle East. Overall, his work stands at the intersection of political economy, the history of economic thought, and Iranian and Middle Eastern studies.