Unforced Error: The Risks of Confrontation with Iran
News reports indicate that President Donald Trump next week plans to “decertify” the Iran nuclear deal, declaring the agreement not in US interests. A new paper from Cato scholars Emma Ashford and John Glaser examines the costs of four confrontational policy approaches to Iran: sanctions, regional hostilities, “regime change from within,” and direct military action. The authors argue that engagement offers a far better chance than confrontation and isolation to improve Iran’s foreign policy behavior and empower moderate groups inside Iran in the long term.
- “Unforced Error: The Risks of Confrontation with Iran,” by Emma Ashford and John Glaser
- “Iran, Decertification, and the Dangerous Alternatives,” by Emma Ashford
- “The Real Danger of Refusing to Certify the Iran Deal,” by John Glaser



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