IngentaConnect Washington: To Engage or to Change the Regime in Iran?

Author: Tarock, Adam¹

Source: New Political Science, Volume 28, Number 1, Number 1/March 2006 , pp. 81-100(20)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

Abstract:

After the invasion of Iraq it was predicted that Iran would be America's next target, if President George W. Bush were re-elected. The massive electoral endorsement that he received for his second term, increased, that is before the insurgency in Iraq, the potential for confrontation with Iran. This article argues, among other things, that Washington has five options to deal with Iran: invasion/occupation, fomenting instability and supporting dissident groups, bombarding Iran's nuclear energy facilities (or allowing Israel to do it), getting the UN Security Council to impose sanctions against it, or engaging Teheran. At present the most controversial issue between them concerns Iran's decision to continue with its nuclear energy program, but there are also other serious issues that have divided them for years. Those issues are discussed and analyzed here. Essentially, however, theirs is a clash between a superpower intolerant of a perceived dissident state, and an assertive regional power that has had the “temerity” to challenge that superpower, and the almost total distrust that each has of the other.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1080/07393140500518273

Affiliations: 1: University of Melbourne, Australia

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