Foreign Affairs Anthology Series

Iran and the Bomb 2: A New Hope

Iran’s turn toward negotiations, the pros and cons of the interim agreement, and the intricacies of the U.S.-Iranian-Israeli triangle.

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Table of Contents

WMD & Proliferation Feb 2, 2014 Snapshot

Iran and the Bomb 2

A New Hope

Gideon Rose

Middle East - Foreign Affairs

WMD & Proliferation September/October 2013 Essay

Who Is Ali Khamenei?

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is not a crazy, irrational, or reckless zealot searching for opportunities for aggression, as this sweeping intellectual profile shows. That...

Akbar Ganji

Khamenei visits an American hostage in 1980.

Civil Society Jun 16, 2013 Snapshot

Why Rouhani Won -- And Why Khamenei Let Him

In hindsight, it is easy to understand why the Iranian public backed Hassan Rouhani. Less apparent is why Ayatollah Ali Khamenei let the result stand. One explanation...

Suzanne Maloney

WMD & Proliferation Nov 24, 2013 Snapshot

Rouhani's Gorbachev Moment

Could Iranian President Hassan Rouhani be another Mikhail Gorbachev -- a real reformer who opens his country’s political system and creates the space for détente with...

Stephen Kotkin

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev visits the International University in Moscow, February 9, 2012.

War & Military Strategy January/February 2013 Essay

Getting to Yes With Iran

Halting Iran's progress toward a bomb will require the United States to make credible promises and credible threats simultaneously -- an exceedingly difficult trick to...

Robert Jervis

Arms Control & Disarmament Nov 29, 2013 Postscript

On the Road to Yes With Iran

The debate over the merits of the interim nuclear agreement with Iran should turn on whether enhanced sanctions could break Iran’s will, if not lead to regime change....

Robert Jervis

Sanctions Sep 24, 2013 Postscript

Talk Is Cheap

As Rouhani mounts his charm offensive at the UN General Assembly, it is worth remembering that sanctions alone did not bring about Iran's new willingness to negotiate....

Patrick Clawson

An Iranian Zelzal missile is launched during a test at an unknown location in central Iran, September 27, 2009.

WMD & Proliferation Nov 27, 2013 Snapshot

Saved by the Deal

The interim nuclear agreement has pulled the Iranian regime back from the edge of disaster. But that doesn't mean its problems are over. Having raised the expectations...

Suzanne Maloney

U.S. Foreign Policy Jan 2, 2014 Snapshot

Don’t Get Suckered by Iran

Before pursuing a comprehensive nuclear deal with Iran, the White House needs to reassess its interim agreement. It would be a grave error to allow the Islamic...

Mitchell B. Reiss and Ray Takeyh

Strategy & Conflict Nov 25, 2013 Snapshot

Confidence Enrichment

It is difficult to judge the nuclear agreement forged last weekend in Geneva as anything other than a good deal. The Iranians will be no closer to having a nuclear...

Kenneth Pollack

An Iranian boy holds the national flag with a plastic gun with in central Tehran, March 31, 2008.

U.S. Foreign Policy Jan 7, 2014 Snapshot

Still Time to Attack Iran

Much has changed after the past several months of diplomacy with Iran, but one basic fact hasn’t: diplomacy remains unlikely to neutralize the threat from Tehran's...

Matthew Kroenig

U.S. Foreign Policy Jan 7, 2014 Snapshot

Still Not Time to Attack Iran

Whatever hawks might argue, attacking Iran would be an enormous mistake. The prospects for reaching a comprehensive agreement to resolve the nuclear impasse peacefully...

Colin H. Kahl

Obama Administration Dec 2, 2013 Snapshot

Befriend the Scientists

Nuclear weapons programs are hard to dismantle for bureaucratic reasons, not technical ones. If the United States hopes for its recent agreement with Iran to stick, it...

Jacques E. C. Hymans

An Iranian operator monitors the nuclear power plant unit in Bushehr, about 755 miles south of Tehran, November 30, 2009.

Strategy & Conflict Oct 1, 2013 Snapshot

Pushing Peace

In the past, Israel has opposed and sought to prevent U.S.-Iranian talks whenever possible, but it has swiftly shifted to a neutral position once it deems talks...

Trita Parsi

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power listens as Netanyahu addresses the UN General Assembly.

WMD & Proliferation Oct 1, 2013 Snapshot

Bibi the Bad Cop

Israel does not trust Barack Obama to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. It will try to stymie any nuclear deal it sees as too lenient -- but that won’t be...

Elliott Abrams

Bibi Netanyahu Obama UN Rouhani

WMD & Proliferation Jan 14, 2014 Snapshot

Why Israel Is So Afraid

No one should assume that, with the signing of the recent nuclear deal with Iran, the threat of war has passed. Washington's diplomatic engagement with Tehran may,...

Ariel Ilan Roth

Israelis look on as Israeli air force jets fly in formation over the Mediterranean Sea.

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