Pollack (A Path Out of the Desert
), research director for the Saban Center, collaborates with five colleagues for this timely and cogent analysis of U.S.-Iranian relations. Dismissing past U.S. policy as “not particularly impressive,” the authors point to “an emerging consensus... that the Obama administration will have to adopt a new policy toward Iran.” To that end, they identify nine approaches ranging from diplomacy to military action and containment (“the default U.S. policy toward Iran since the Islamic Revolution”) and lay out the objectives, costs, pros and cons for each. Avoiding advocacy, the authors lament that all the alternatives are “unpalatable” and “no course is unambiguously better” than the others. They further acknowledge that Iran's nuclear ambitions represent an “existential threat” to Israel and that Israel remains a “wild card” in any consideration of Iranian policy. U.S.-Iranian relations have long been a minefield, and Pollack and his collaborators carefully identify the potential missteps facing policymakers in this valuable—if wonky—primer. (Sept.)
