Iran and the Bomb

Security Sep 13, 2012 Snapshot

Iran and the Bomb: Introduction

The challenge for Iran policymaking is not picking a great course that delivers acceptable benefits at a reasonable cost and risk, but selecting a marginally less bad...

Gideon Rose

Iran Spring 1987 Essay

Iran's Quest for Superpower Status

Focuses on the domestic political underpinnings of Iran's foreign policy behaviour in respect of (1) the war against Iraq, the course of which is decided by the...

Gary G. Sick

Economics May/June 1997 Essay

Adjusting to Sanctions

Economic bans and political invective against Iran have not worked. America, not the Islamic Republic, has become isolated. Meanwhile, both because sanctions are leaky...

Jahangir Amuzegar

Politics & Society July/August 2009 Essay

Tehran's Take

Iran’s foreign policy is often portrayed in sensationalistic terms, but in reality it is a rational strategy meant to ensure the survival of the Islamic Republic...

Mohsen M. Milani

Arms Control & Disarmament July/August 2005 Essay

Regime Change and Its Limits

So far, the Bush administration has shown it would like to resolve its problems with North Korea and Iran the same way it did with Iraq: through regime change. It is...

Richard N. Haass

Arms Control & Disarmament September/October 2006 Essay

How to Keep the Bomb From Iran

The debate over how to deal with Iran's nuclear program is clouded by historical amnesia. Nuclear proliferation has been stopped before, and it can and should be...

Scott D. Sagan

Arms Control & Disarmament May/June 2012 Essay

Botching the Bomb

Nuclear weapons are hard to build for managerial reasons, not technical ones. This is why so few authoritarian regimes have succeeded: they don’t have the right...

Jacques E. C. Hymans

Security January/February 2012 Essay

Time to Attack Iran

Opponents of military action against Iran assume a U.S. strike would be far more dangerous than simply letting Tehran build a bomb. Not so, argues this former Pentagon...

Matthew Kroenig

Air Force and Marine Corps aircraft fly in formation at the conclusion of Valiant Shield 2014.

Security March/April 2012 Response

Not Time to Attack Iran

Matthew Kroenig’s recent article in this magazine argued that a military strike against Iran would be “the least bad option” for stopping its nuclear program. But the...

Colin H. Kahl

WMD & Proliferation July/August 2012 Comment

Why Iran Should Get the Bomb

U.S. and Israeli officials have declared that a nuclear-armed Iran is a uniquely terrifying prospect, even an existential threat. In fact, by creating a more durable...

Kenneth N. Waltz

United Nations March/April 2010 Essay

After Iran Gets the Bomb

Despite international pressure, Iran appears to be continuing its march toward getting a nuclear bomb. But Washington can contain and mitigate the consequences of...

James M. Lindsay and Ray Takeyh

Sanctions Jan 5, 2012 Snapshot

Obama's Counterproductive New Iran Sanctions

The new sanctions regime places the United States' tactics and objectives -- a negotiated end to Iran's nuclear ambitions -- at odds. In effect, the administration has...

Suzanne Maloney

Security Jul 31, 2012 Snapshot

Tehran Takedown

Focusing on Iran's nuclear program misses the point. Defending the United States and its allies from Iran and its proxies requires regime change in Tehran, which...

Michael Ledeen

Security Feb 9, 2012 Letter From

Sanctions Won't End Iran's Nuclear Program

Iran's nuclear program will not live or die because of sanctions. The regime's calculus will not be adjusted because of economic pressure.

Kayhan Barzegar

War & Military Strategy Feb 9, 2012 Snapshot

How to Engage Iran

Two schools of thought dominate Iran's foreign policy-making; the first holds that Iran and the United States can reach a compromise through negotiations, the second...

Hossein Mousavian

Security Jun 10, 2009 Letter From

Letter From Tel Aviv: Netanyahu’s Iranian Dilemma

The Israeli public and the country's intelligence experts have two different views of the threat posed by the Iranian nuclear program. Which will win out, and what is...

Ronen Bergman

War & Military Strategy Nov 24, 2009 Snapshot

The Root of All Fears

Ariel Ilan Roth

Security Feb 23, 2012 Snapshot

What Happens After Israel Attacks Iran

The conversation in Israel about an operation against Iran's nuclear program is centered on whether or not Jerusalem should strike, not on what might happen if it does...

Ehud Eiran

Arms Control & Disarmament Mar 31, 2012 Snapshot

Why Israel Should Learn to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

The debate in Jerusalem about attacking Iran makes clear that Israel does not trust its “bomb in the basement” to do what nuclear weapons are best at doing: deterring...

Dmitry Adamsky

Foreign Affairs Anthology Series

Iran and the Bomb

The story of the Islamic Republic of Iran's quest for nuclear weapons and the outside world's struggle to respond.

Table of Contents

The Roots of the Problem

Debating the Options

Other Voices

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