Motivations for the Dead-End Policy on Iran

by Paul R. Pillar Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s recent speech on Iran, although titled “After the Deal: A New Iran Strategy,” was not new at all. It was mostly a recitation of the same arguments, with the same fallacies… Continue Reading

Trump: The American Ahmadinejad?

by Shervin Malekzadeh [Given the outcome of the US presidential election, LobeLog is republishing this commentary from February] Western coverage of Iran has long relied on the convention of describing important public personalities as the Persian version of their American… Continue Reading

Mark Kirk’s Surprising Disinterest In Boeing’s Iran Sales

by Eli Clifton Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) opposes pretty much anything that might take the pressure off Iran. He called Obama the “drug dealer in chief” for delivering $400 million in cash to the Islamic Republic as part of a… Continue Reading

Mark Kirk Wanted Release of Americans Held in Iran Before He Was Against It

by Eli Clifton Back in March 2015, Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) placed the highest priority on seeking the release of Americans held in Iran. He, along with 18 of his Senate GOP colleagues, wrote to Secretary of State John Kerry… Continue Reading

The Exceptional But Fragile American Democracy

by Paul R. Pillar Efforts to export American-style liberal democracy to foreign lands have bumped up against the fact that the successful working of such democracy depends on habits and attitudes that are rarer than most Americans think and that… Continue Reading