Composite narrative, authoritarian discourse, and the Soviet response to the destruction of Iran air flight 655

Abstract

The response of the Soviet Union to the American destruction of Iran Air 655 in 1988 represents a break in the mutual cycle of superpower condemnation that occurred throughout the Cold War and most of the Reagan presidency. This essay concerns the Soviet response: first, we examine the manner in which Soviet print media disputed U.S. media comparisons with the 1983 downing of Korean airlines flight 007; second, we analyze Soviet news editorials as a composite narrative. Essentially, scattered editorial accounts are collected, compiled, and read as a single Soviet narrative of the event. Read as a composite narrative, the Soviet response represents an important break in the cycle of superpower bickering common throughout post‐Truman presidencies.

Key words:

• Cold War
• composite narrative
• transcendence
• condemnation cycle