Prospects for Temptation in Persia by "The Great Satan": United States Engagement with Iran, 1993-2005
Abstract
The primary focus of today's foreign policy issues with Iran should be on arms control and Iran's development of nuclear weapons. Preventing this development can be accomplished only through engagement. If engagement does not occur, it is even more likely that Iran will acquire nuclear weapons and the ability to deploy them in ballistic missiles. Iran will then no longer be restrained in its pursuit of aggressive foreign policy initiatives in the Middle East, and the United States will have lost any influence it might have had with Iran. The major question this thesis addresses is as follows: To what extent did the United States use or try to use positive and negative incentives toward Iran from 1993-2007? The secondary questions are as follows: How effective have positive incentives been in bringing about better relations between the United States and Iran? How effective have negative incentives been in bringing about better relations between the United States and Iran? Finally, should positive incentives be used unilaterally by the United States? This assessment will be based on a review of how the administrations of Presidents William J. Clinton and George W. Bush interacted with the Mohammad Khatami and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad administrations. The author concludes that peace in the Middle East hinges on the United States' ability to establish stable diplomatic relations with Iran.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2010
- Accession Number
- ADA518549
Entities
People
- Kevin C. Ducharme
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School