in the media

Dilemmas of Western Policies toward Iran

by Daniel Brumberg
published by
Carnegie
 on July 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.

Political ReformForeign PolicyIranAfghanistan
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