Congress, Iran, and Oil

One of the problems surrounding Congressional indifference to US energy policy is that the US is economically vulnerable. As stated in a previous article, our adversaries have noticed this vulnerability and are actively trying to exploit that weakness. This economic vulnerability has provided a tool for Iran to damage the US economy and the leverage to manipulate US foreign policy.

Iran: A Case Study in Expansionism

When discussing Iran and effective strategies to confront their current geopolitical path, terms like “status quo power” have been used to describe the former and strategies like “containment” attempt to address the latter. To demonstrate the fallacy of both, a case study in Iranian behavior is necessary to understand Tehran’s version of expansionism and how a traditional containment strategy would be ineffective.

The Iran NIE: A Template of Analysis?

After reading the Iran NIE and many of the related articles, there are a few fundamental issues that have not been raised. Let’s begin with the “money quote” used by the New York Times to indicate that Iran has stopped pursuing its nuclear ambitions.

Iran’s Strategy and Application of Force

 

While the Bush administration clearly asserts that a nuclear armed Iran is not in the national security interests of the United States, the fractious political environment in Washington is blunting the effectiveness of that message. Furthermore, the impending US election season has generated questions about Iran that are phrased in the ethereal context of “What would you do?” The responses range from “using force” to “direct negotiations.” This indicates to Iran that the US is divided and preoccupied with other events. Iran sees a hesitant adversary, while the American public remains misinformed of the true situation in the Middle East.