A Drowning Man's Umbrella Quest: America's Search for Iranian Policy

Abstract

There is an enormous amount of energy dedicated to solving the problem of Iran, yet still the question arises: "Why can't the United States develop a policy that normalizes relations with Iran?" Perhaps it is because the answers have been marked by superficial responses. The question of Iran is confused with the outcomes of a successful policy that include access to oil and a non-nuclear Iran. Although these outcomes describe a future U.S.-Iranian relationship, they are little more than stars to steer by for strategists. As a result, initiatives fail during development or their implementation leads to a decline of U.S. regional influence. Based on the historical relationship between the United States and Iran, and the current preferences that orient U.S. policy towards Iran, it is highly probable that the peoples of the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran will engage in a regional war before 2020 if nothing changes in U.S. policy towards Iran.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 06, 2011
Accession Number
ADA560448

Entities

People

  • William H. Zemp

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Department Of State
  • Geographic Regions
  • Globalization
  • Intergovernmental Organizations
  • International Law
  • International Organizations
  • International Relations
  • Iraqi-War
  • Military Science
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Political Systems
  • Terrorists
  • Treaties
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • Educational Psychology
  • Nuclear Non-Proliferation and International Security