Since the 1979 revolution, scholars and policy makers alike have tended to see Iranian political actors as religiously driven--dedicated to overturning the international order in line with a theologically prescribed outlook. In Religious Statecraft, Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar argues that such views have the link between religious ideology and political order backwards. This provocative book examines the politics of Islam rather than political Islam--demonstrating that religious narratives can change rapidly, frequently, and dramatically in accordance with elites' threat perceptions....