1. Iran Briefing
Iran Briefing: In three weeks Secretary of State Condaleeza Rice will be attending an international conference on Iraq at which representatives of the governments of Syria and Iran are likely to be present. Many U.S. allies, while opposing Iran's nuclear ambitions, are convinced that Washington cannot solve the nuclear dispute with Iran unless it is open to discussing the broader range of U.S.-Iranian relations. In the spring of 2003 Iran proposed a "Grand Bargain" with the U.S. to resolve its outstanding disputes with Washington, and discussion over the last 4 years has gone back and forth over whether it represents a way forward.
Your task, should you choose to accept it, is to draft a historical briefing paper that outlines US-Iranian relations from the late 1970s to the eve of the Iraq war (spring 2003), assesses U.S. policy (was it wise, productive, consistent?) and recommend, based on this history, whether or not the U.S. should accept this proposed "grand bargain" as the basis for a settlement of our disagreements with Iran. More documents will be posted soon.
Documents/links
A Timeline of Recent US Iranian relations
Taking the Wind Out of the Perfect Geopolitical Storm: Iran and the Crisis over Non-proliferation
Time to Lift Iran's Sanctions -- 01/04/2007
By Roger Howard
By trying to isolate Iran, the U.S. risks undermining its own political power.
“To Bomb, or Not to Bomb—That is the Iran Question”
http://www.aei.org/publications/pubID.24230,filter.all/pub_detail.asp
By Reuel Marc Gerecht | April 14, 2006
Should the U.S. Pursue Regime Change in Iran?, Michael Rubin, American Enterprise Institute