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Dr. Albert B. Wolf is the Dean of the College of International Studies at the American University of Kurdistan, Duhok. His research focuses on Security Studies, with particular attention to the Middle East, the relationship between domestic political survival and international relations, as well as nuclear proliferation. He held a post-doctoral fellowship at Hebrew University of Jerusalem and has taught in Azerbaijan and Afghanistan. He served as a foreign policy advisor to the presidential campaigns of Sen. Lindsey Graham and Gov. John Kasich during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. He also served as a Legislative Assistant in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he was responsible for the Foreign Affairs portfolio. He has been published in academic as well as popular outlets. These include journals such as International Security, Middle East Policy, Polity, Comparative Strategy, Survival, and Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs. He has also been published in The Washington Post, Newsweek, the Atlantic Council, The Hill, Roll Call, Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), The National Interest, The Houston Chronicle, The Jerusalem Post, The Times of Israel, and Ynet, among others.
On the margins of Vienna’s nuclear talks, Riyadh and Tehran have opened their own conversation in Baghdad. Despite predictions of a potential grand bargain, Saudi and Iranian identity security will confine the results to a mere cooling of relations, at best.
Both the U.S. State Department and the American intelligence community have concluded that President Trump’s “maximum pressure” policy toward Iran is not working. Yet, Trump seems determined to carry on. To achieve its stated goal of changing Iran’s policies, the U.S. should adopt a more proportional approach that focuses on Tehran’s most threatening actions, such as its ballistic missile tests.
Whether we stay in or pull out from Afghanistan, America faces the likelihood of significant and enduring costs.
