Dilemmas of Western Policies toward Iran

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  "authors": [
    "Daniel Brumberg"
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  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
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  "englishNewsletterAll": "democracy",
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  "regions": [
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In The Media

Dilemmas of Western Policies toward Iran

By Mr. Daniel Brumberg

Published on Jul 1, 2002

Source: Carnegie

Published July/September 2002 in The International Spectator .

Read the full text on The International Spectator website.

While the unhappy course of US-Iranian relations reflects the fragmented nature of foreign policy making in both Washington and Tehran., such divisions have proven especially costly in Iran because they echo a power struggle over the very nature of Iran's Islamic Republic. The case of Afghanistan demonstrates how a push by reformists for improved US-Iranian relations can alarm hardliners and thus invite a crackdown. Yet the Bush administration has hurt the reformists by adopting the bellicose language of Washington's own hardliners. Paradoxically, the best way to strengthen moderates in both Washington and Tehran may be for Europe to stop playing "good cop" to the America's "bad cop." A tougher line on human rights, WMD, terrorism, and Palestine will signal that Tehran can no longer play Europe and the US off and thus avoid hard foreign policy choices.

About the Author

Mr. Daniel Brumberg

Former Senior Associate

Recent Work

Paper
Liberalization Versus Democracy: Understanding Arab Political Reform
- Mr. Daniel Brumberg
Other
Democratic Mirage in the Middle East
- +1
  Thomas Carothers, Marina Ottaway, Ms. Amy Hawthorne, …

Political Reform Foreign Policy Iran Afghanistan

Carnegie India does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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