Protests, Politics, and Proliferation: What is the New Red Line for the United States with the Islamic Republic of Iran?
Abstract
The scope of this paper examines how the United States must reevaluate the future of United States-Iranian relations and that publicly advocating for regime change is not the answer. Moreover, I argue that the United States must redefine what our red lines are toward Iran and understand what Iran's red lines are toward the West to achieve progress and increase stability in the Middle East. In the last four decades, the term red line has been defined and redefined regarding Iranian relations and to what extent the United States will react to Iranian aggression due to a budding nuclear program and Iran's emboldened acts of aggression, which affect Middle East regional stability. Today, in a dynamic global environment and with the rise of peer competitors, the United States must consider United States-Iranian relations through the employment of different instruments of national power and recognize that Iran may not be prioritized as high as it once was when it comes to deterrence, selective intervention, and the use of military force as the primary deterrent. Nevertheless, Iran remains a critical actor from a national security perspective. Therefore, the future United States-Iran foreign policy must address short and long-term objectives when it comes to the state of Iran as well as Iran's place within the Middle East and as a potential nuclear threat. In the following sections, I will examine opportunities and foreign policy challenges through the diplomatic, information, military, and economic frameworks. Each of these frameworks offers different approaches to a complex problem. With an administration focused on maintaining a liberal international order, the employment of soft power and leveraging a variety of national power tools is fundamental to a successful near and midterm foreign policy outcome in the next 5 to 15 years with Iran.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 29, 2023
- Accession Number
- AD1210332
Entities
People
- Chelsea R. Scott
Organizations
- Naval War College