Key Policy Questions

Questions – not preconceived beliefs – are the best starting-point for thorough and reasoned analysis of an issue such as US-Iran relations. One will find questions throughout this website. Asking the right questions is critical to developing the most effective policy. In medicine, a doctor must ask the right questions and run the right tests in order to arrive at the proper diagnosis. The proper diagnosis is critical to realizing the proper treatment. Medicine is a useful metaphor for foreign policy. Those who analyze foreign policy must ask a thorough series of questions about the nature of the problem – in this case, the contentious nature of US-Iran relations. Answering these questions is critical to diagnosing the real source of the illness and to applying the right foreign policy “prescription.”

This section offers a series of questions about US policy toward Iran. Additional questions of a more theoretical nature can be found elsewhere on the site in the primers on international relations theory.

Key questions about US-Iran relations include, but are not limited to:

What should be the overall goal of US policy toward the Islamic Republic of Iran?

• regime change?
• changed behavior?

How should the US prioritize its more discrete objectives?

• Which issues are most important to US interests and security?
  • Nuclear weapons/WMD?
  • The Iranian role in Arab-Israeli peace?
  • Stabilization and security of Iraq and Afghanistan?
  • Iranian support for terrorism writ large?
  • Regional stability?
  • al-Qaeda?
  • Plentiful, reliable supply of oil?
  • Iranian violations of democratic ideals and human rights?

What are the interests that influence policy in each country toward the other?

• Are these interests simple and straight-forward?
• Are they multi-faceted and even contradictory?
• Are they rational? Geopolitical? Ideological? Cultural?

What role do culture and ideology play in the stalemate between the countries?

• Is it possible that American public discourse on Iran over-estimates the role of culture and ideology in Iranian behavior?
• How and to what extent does American political culture and ideology affect American public discourse on Iran?
• Is appreciation of culture a critical element of any successful reconciliation?
• Do cultural differences preclude reconciliation?

Is policy in each country coherent?

• If we look at the internal political players and machinations, might we find several different sets of viewpoints and goals within each government, some of which work at cross-purposes?
• How do decision-making structures in each country affect policy outcomes?

What would be the implications of a nuclear Iran?

• Would the nature of the Iranian government make a difference to American and global tolerance of a nuclear capability?

Do certain theories of international relations and foreign policy best help us to understand:

• Why the US and Iran remain locked in such a hostile relationship?
• How to improve the relationship between the countries?
  • And if it is possible at all?

Is Iran a “rational” country? How does one define “rational,” anyway?