home > by publication type > op-eds > Counterproductive confrontation
Email
| Author: | Charles D. Ferguson, Philip D. Reed Senior Fellow for Science and Technology |
|---|
January 31, 2007
Baltimore Sun
On Jan. 20, a U.S. naval carrier battle group left the West Coast of the United States. Once this battle force arrives in the Persian Gulfregion in February, the United States will have the largest concentration of naval power projection in that region since the start of the Persian Gulf war in 2003. It could then conduct round-the-clock air bombardment of Iran.
Frustrated that the late December U.N. Security Council resolution sanctioning Iran for not suspending its nuclear program is too weak, the Bush administration is trying to increase pressure by compelling governments and financial institutions to cut ties with Iran. But sanctions and isolation can help Tehran’s hard-liners. They welcome the confrontation withAmerica, “the Great Satan,” building support for themselves by rallying Iranians around the flag.
Ratcheting up pressure could lead the United Statesinto an unnecessary war. A counterintuitive approach could win over Iranian pragmatists and reduce leverage for Iranian hard-liners. To free itself from an impending trap, the United States should try a new strategy that addresses the two main reasons for seeking nuclear weapons: prestige and security.
In Termites in the Trading System, Jagdish Bhagwati reveals how the rapid spread of preferential trade agreements endangers the world trading system.
America Between the Wars explores how the decisions and debates of the years between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Twin Towers shaped the events, arguments, and politics of the world we live in today.
In The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State, Noah Feldman tells the story behind the increasingly popular call for the establishment of the sharia—the law of the traditional Islamic state—in the modern Muslim world.
Complete list of CFR Books.
This report argues that the United States must lead with domestic action on climate change and proposes a U.S. negotiating strategy for a global UN climate agreement that includes commitments from all major economies, while also promoting a less formal Partnership for Climate Cooperation that would focus the world's largest emitters on implementing aggressive emissions reductions.
This Task Force report examines changes in Latin America and in U.S. influence there, while taking account of the region's enduring importance to the United States. The Task Force offers an agenda for U.S. policy toward Latin America and identifies four critical areas that should provide the basis of a new U.S. approach.
About Independent Task Forces at CFR.
Copyright 2008 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.
