Iran

Trump’s South Caucasus Peacemaking Is His Most Successful, but It Remains Unfinished
  • Commentary

    • Trump’s South Caucasus Peacemaking Is His Most Successful, but It Remains Unfinished

    Of all the fronts in President Trump’s peacemaking agenda, the South Caucasus has delivered the most concrete results. The August 2025 Washington Declaration, signed between Armenia and Azerbaijan and witnessed by Trump, marked an important step toward peace in the region. The two sides initialed a peace agreement and advanced plans to unblock regional connectivity, including through the establishment of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP), which would connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhijevan exclave through southern Armenia. Implementation of TRIPP has since made notable progress, but construction has yet to start. A breakthrough on those two tracks would, in turn, unlock Armenia–Türkiye normalization, transforming a long-fractured region into an area of trade and interdependence.

    The Iran War Was Always About Regime Change
  • Commentary

    • The Iran War Was Always About Regime Change

    Wars don’t just end. They get interpreted, reinterpreted, and turned into strategic doctrine. That is what happened after the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s, a conflict that saw the United States back Tehran’s Iraqi adversaries. The war taught Tehran three lessons it never unlearned: that Washington wants the Islamic Republic gone, that Iran stands essentially alone in the world, and that it cannot survive a direct, overt fight with the U.S. and Israel.

    Iran’s New War Cabinet Is Really an Old One
  • Analysis

    • Iran’s New War Cabinet Is Really an Old One

    Within 48 hours this week, Iran filled six of the most important posts in its battered military and security establishment. Read together with the biographies and mandates behind them, the appointments show how Tehran is drawing lessons from successive wars and preparing for a prolonged period of insecurity, without proving it has abandoned negotiation.

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    Policy and War: On the Brink with Iran
    Middle East Institute
  • Analysis

    • Policy and War: On the Brink with Iran

    “War is merely the continuation of policy by other means.” – Clause von Clausewitz

    Considering Diplomacy and War

    August 10, 2012

    Roby C. Barrett

    Prospects for U.S.-Iran Relations on the Nuclear Issue in the Year Ahead
    Middle East Institute
  • Analysis

    • Prospects for U.S.-Iran Relations on the Nuclear Issue in the Year Ahead

    Principal Authors: Allen Keiswetter and Roby Barrett

    Contributing MEI Scholars and Guests:

    Geneive Abdo, Reza Akbari, Roby Barrett, Charles Dunne,Philip Frayne, George Harris, Mark N. Katz (George Mason University), Allen Keiswetter, David Mack, Melissa Mahle (C&O Resources), Richard Murphy, Greg Myre, Michael Ryan, Paul Scham, Daniel Serwer, Alex Vatanka, Marvin Weinbaum, Wayne White, Philip Wilcox, Molly Williamson

    August 1, 2012

    Allen L. Keiswetter, Roby C. Barrett

    America's Catch-22: The Iran Question in Afghanistan
    Middle East Institute
  • Analysis

    • America's Catch-22: The Iran Question in Afghanistan

    This Opinion first appeared in Frontline.com’s Tehran Bureau on June 13, 2012 and was co-authored by Christina Lin

    As U.S. and other NATO troops prepare to leave Afghanistan in 2014, a geopolitical realignment will be under way in Southwest Asia. One possible scenario would outright undermine a principle U.S. policy objective in the region: the containment of Iran.

    'Reality Check' for Iran Nuclear Talks
    Middle East Institute
  • Analysis

    • 'Reality Check' for Iran Nuclear Talks

    This Opinion first appeared on CNN.com on May 21, 2012

    Iran is set for nuclear talks Wednesday with members of the U.N. Security Council, and the Obama administration, as well as some Iranian and European Union officials, expressed optimism that a compromise will be reached. But it is useful to examine Israel’s long-term objectives for a bit of a reality check.

    May 22, 2012

    Understanding Iranian Foreign Policy
  • Analysis

    • Understanding Iranian Foreign Policy

    Originally posted January 2009

    Understanding Iran’s foreign policy is the key to crafting sensible and effective policies toward Iran and requires, above all, a close analysis of the profound cultural and psychological contexts of Iranian foreign policy behavior.

    April 20, 2012

    Containment: A Viable Strategy for Iran?
  • Video

    • Containment: A Viable Strategy for Iran?

    The Middle East Institute is proud to host Georgetown University professor Paul Pillar for a discussion about Iran and how best to address its nuclear ambitions. Pillar argues that the acceptable range of opinion on Iran has narrowed around the idea that all options, including a military strike, must be pursued to prevent the country from acquiring nuclear weapons. And yet, Pillar argues, if the combination of nuclear talks and sanctions do not yield the outcome the West and Israel seek, containment is preferable to war.

    April 18, 2012

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