A Constructivist Approach to the Social Background of Relations between Iran and America

The main purpose of the present article is a study of the social trends of Iranian and American societies towards each other. The main question of the article is: what is the attitude of Iranians and Americans towards each others countries and how this influences the relations between the two states? A short survey on contemporary literature of Iran-US relations manifests that the main trend of the literature available is concentrated on states, governments and officials. That is why a different study on the two countries societies is necessary i.e. one concentrating on social inclinations and attitudes. According to the constructivist approach, all social phenomena including foreign policy are socially constructed. Surveying some opinion polls and attitude poll, I shall endeavor to prove that the current situation of the relations between the two countries is not irrelevant to the prevalent attitudes among the people in the two societies. That can be one of the obstacles of the solution of the crisis in Iran-US relations. Although the people of the two countries may have some pessimistic views toward each other, they do not agree with confrontation and struggle seeking a gradual settlement of the current problems.