ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses Peace Corps Iran and focuses on it as an unstudied episode in the transnational history of the 1960s. While not exactly a story of rebellious youth, the Peace Corps in Iran was indeed a case of transnational interaction whereby young Americans lived and interacted directly with Iranians in a cultural exchange that profoundly impacted both sides. If there was one young American in Iran who skillfully balanced Iranian and American state objectives with the expressed interests of ordinary Iranians known in the Peace Corps even beyond Iran as the "beautiful American." The chapter argues that these young Americans inevitably became enmeshed in a transnational web of overlapping and conflicting United States-Iranian policies and interests, developing strong affinities with and loyalties to Iranians while employed in American and Iranian state-sponsored projects. The legislation followed three main objectives: to provide trained manpower, promote a better understanding of Americans among people abroad, and increase Americans' knowledge of the world.
