Term project paper

US foreign policy regarding the nuclear deal with Iran

Texas Policy Report Proposal

Sapana Dahal

GOVT-2305-21017 Fall 2018

Dr. Barbara Morchower

Word Count (302)

The United States is a global player, and its decisions influence the entire world. On the other hand, the United States needs support of ally countries in order to enhance its position against its rivals. Thus, although the United States could influence the world politics with its decisions it is also vulnerable in the lack of the alliances; hence the US needs to calculate well its decisions and policies. The support of the allies is necessary if the United States wants to keep its superior position in world political arena. (Ogultharan 113). Iran’s nuclear programme, as pointed out earlier, would not have become a ‘controversial’ international issue had it not been for the USA’s selective non-nuclear proliferation policy. Opposition to nuclear proliferation is often portrayed as a post-cold war priority. In fact, the US opposition to nuclear proliferation began after World II. The US strategy has been to ‘inhibit’ other countries from going nuclear. The US ‘strategies of inhibition’, according to Francis J. Gavin, have often been selectively applied (Tarock 1410). The North Atlantic Treaty Organization territory borders Iran and includes some of the key players in this crisis: France, the United Kingdom and the United States. While NATO is already considering the putative Iranian threat through its missile-defense programme, few if any comprehensive assessments have been made of what it would mean to live with a nuclear-armed Iran (Tertrais 45).

The US assessment is that Iran has not yet made a choice about whether or not to develop a nuclear weapon. What combination of threat and incentive would strengthen Iran’s will to forego the bomb? The risks of developing a nuclear weapon, more sanctions and the threat of a military attack, should be clear to Tehran. The benefits, which may be less apparent, should include sanctions relief (Parasiliti 34).

References

Ogultarhan, Adem. “Iran’s Nuclear Program: The US Misses Opportunities? -An Examination of US Policies in the Middle East and Implications of Those Policies on the US Global Position.” Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations, vol. 9, no. 1, Spring 2010, pp. 112–147. EBSCOhost, dcccd.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9 h&AN=53171070&site=ehost-live.

Parasiliti, Andrew. “Closing the Deal with Iran.” Survival (00396338), vol. 54, no. 4, Aug. 2012, pp. 33–41. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/00396338.2012.709386.

Tarock, Adam. “The Iran Nuclear Deal: Winning a Little, Losing a Lot.” Third World Quarterly, vol. 37, no.8, Aug. 2016, pp. 1408–1424. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/01436597.2016.1166049.

Tertrais, Bruno. “A Nuclear Iran and NATO.” Survival (00396338), vol. 52, no. 6, Dec. 2010, pp. 45–62. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/00396338.2010.540782.