Weighing Relations Among Iran and its Neighbors After a Nuclear Agreement:
Implications for U.S. Policy.
Iran and Its Neighbors: Regional Implications for U.S. Policy of a Nuclear Agreement
I I N: R I U.S. P N A Dear Fellow Citizens,
As a group o ormer officials o the United States government and proessionals in the field o U.S. national security, we support the publication o
Iran and Its Neighbors: Regional Implications for U.S. Policy of a Nuclear Agreement.
We applaud its authors and their goal o contributing an objective, nonpartisan analysis to a complex and important discussion. While some o us made contributions, we do not necessarily agree with every judgment or with each o the recommendations or U.S. policy. We associate ourselves with this report in the hope that it will contribute to an inormed debate on critical challenges to American interests. We also believe that it is consistent with President Obama’s policy o trying to reach a diplomatic solution to limiting Iran’s nuclear program and achieve greater stability in the Middle East through diplomatic and other efforts, without the large-scale use o American military orce. Tis report takes a balanced, act-based approach, to orm a strategic analysis o the challenges and opportunities or U.S. policymakers in the Middle East ollowing a compre-hensive nuclear agreement with Iran. It is similar to the last publication o Te Iran Project,
Strategic Options for Iran: Balancing Pressure with Diplomacy,
in that it seeks to look orward and make recommendations or U.S. policy or the region around Iran. As suggested in the prior work, the conclusion o a nuclear agreement could lead to a wider discussion on issues o interest to the United States and Iran. Tis new document is an effort to lay the ground-work or a wider discussion o U.S. strategic thinking or the Middle East. Given the report’s orward-looking nature and the rapidly developing changes in Iran’s part o the world, particularly the emergence o the Islamic State or ISIS, some o the analysis and policy recommendations may be out o date by the time o publication. Te Iran Project chose to go orward knowing that significant change is likely to continue in that region or many years and perhaps decades. We commend this publication to the American public because it sheds light on sectarian divides and ethnic tensions; the complex interaction o nationalism, terrorist action, and humanitarian disasters; and the impact o petroleum riches on the politics o the region. Abraham Lincoln said, “I am a firm believer in the people. I given the truth, they can be depended on to meet any national crisis. Te great point is to bring them the real acts.” Tis report tries to bring some o the acts about an unusually complex and violent region to the American people; and provide thoughts on how the U.S. might contribute to a more stable era.
Tis document is published by Te Iran Project; the content is the collective view of the signers.
Tis report is the ourth in a series o papers published by Te Iran Project that provides a basis or better understanding the standoff between the United States and Iran. It analyses relations between Iran and its neighbors and offers policy recommendations or the United States in the region aer a nuclear agreement with Iran is concluded.
From the signers of this document
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23
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Signed and Endorsed by: Signed and Endorsed by:
W
G. M, A.
R. P, A. J WL B. W, C.F G. W, A.
P R. PB SJ C. W
E. W, S.
J C L H. GS B. H F K, LG.S A. C, BG. S DMD C. K, A.
W H. L, A.J NZ BW H, A.J L, A.R L, S.R M, A.G SB RM A, A.J HW L, A.N P, A.J. S R, A.R C. C, A.