irredenta • Iran, U.S. need a crisis exit ramp

Iran, U.S. need a crisis exit ramp

At the link is my latest take on the crisis between the United States and Iran and what could be done to alleviate it. It is on the CNN Opinion page. It concludes:

U.S. policy has been one of pressure leading to negotiations. Iran has also pursued a dual-track policy of threats combined with offers of negotiation. These policies have resulted in the prospect of a war that would be disastrous to all. What we need right now is a crisis exit ramp. Perhaps this is the moment to explore the negotiating track that both sides say they prefer.

I tend to agree with almost anything Sick has to say on Iran, but this piece has left me puzzled. First, it amounts to yet another voice in the chorus that purports to be asking for “both sides” to step back from the precipice of conflict when it fact its prescriptions only concern the US. Now I’d be the last person to defend American foreign policy objectives, but surely the current standoff is largely do to the belligerence of the Islamic Republic for refusing to compromise on its enrichment activities. I’ve yet to read an honest, cogent argument taking to task the Iranian leadership for taking their country to the brink of war (just to ensure the survival of the regime). And this brings me to the second problem with this line of argument: whatever happened to understanding the domestic sources of foreign policy? As any good student of international politics would know, domestic politics play an important role in the foreign policy calculus of any state, especially autocratic ones that often find it convenient to combine national and self/regime interests together. At a time when the odious cabal in charge of Iran are literally raping and pillaging the human and natural resources of their country in the service of misbegotten interests, surely Iran watchers can muster the courage to step outside of their stereotypical roles and put forward a script more amenable to the interests of the Iranian people. Avoiding war is certainly the foremost objective; but it can be put with a hell of a lot more balance and sincerity than simply asking the US to back off.

Source: garysick