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Taking on Iran: Strength, Diplomacy, and the Iranian Threat
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Taking on Iran: Strength, Diplomacy, and the Iranian Threat Hardcover - 2013

by Abraham D. Sofaer


From the publisher

The threat posed by Iran to international peace and security is approaching a crisis. After compiling a thirty-year record as the world's most active supporter of terrorism, Iran seems determined to develop nuclear weapons. In Taking on Iran, Abraham D. Sofaer argues that US policy toward Iran cannot be restricted to a strategy based on the two costly and potentially ineffective options of attacking Iran's nuclear program or containing a nuclear-armed Iran. Economic sanctions and ineffective diplomacy have failed to convince Iran to abandon its nuclear arms ambitions. Sofaer explains that the United States should add to the pressure on Iran, going beyond economic sanctions and responding forcefully to Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) aggression, increasing the likelihood that Iran will negotiate in earnest and enabling the United States to engage Iran in the disciplined manner required for success. The author outlines thirty years of IRGC aggression and the corresponding thirty years of US weakness by both Republican and Democratic administrations. Drawing from experience in dealing with the Soviet Union during the Reagan administration, he demonstrates that combining strength and diplomacy is the option most likely to convince Iran to comply with international law without either the war necessary to end Iran's nuclear program or the danger in attempting to contain Iran after it acquires nuclear weapons.

From the jacket flap

Since 1979 the United States has failed to deal effectively with the threat posed to international peace and security by the Islamic Republic of Iran. The range of Iranian misconduct since that time has been broad, resulting in the deaths of some one thousand US nationals. The United States has repeatedly protested these activities and issued numerous threats but has done little or nothing to deter the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Instead of responding in self-defense to IRGC surrogate and direct attacks, the United States has focused almost exclusively on Iran's nuclear program, threatening to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, by force if necessary, and imposing economic sanctions that are damaging Iran's economy. But threats of force to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons have limited credibility given the long record of US weakness in responding to IRGC aggression, as well as the US failure to follow up on such threats against North Korea. Although using force to destroy or set back Iran's nuclear program has been kept "on the table" by US presidents, the difficulties of justifying and implementing such attacks on Iran's nuclear program are formidable, with possibly serious collateral consequences, widespread criticism, and ultimate failure. Equally troublesome, however, is failing to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and attempting instead to contain Iran through the threat of annihilation, missile defense, and economic and political pressure. A nuclear-armed Iran would increase instability in the Middle East, further embolden the IRGC, and lead to nuclear arms proliferation with catastrophic results. Taking on Iran presents an alternative and viable approach by which the United States could deal with Iran's nuclear program without resorting to either preventive attacks or accepting a nuclear-armed Iran. The author urges the United States to exercise its right to defend US forces, nationals, and interests from IRGC aggression--a long overdue, practical, and principled strategic imperative. Military actions against IRGC targets related to its surrogates or terrorist attacks on the United States, he explains, would (unlike preventive attacks on Iran's nuclear program) be legally defensible, legitimate, practical, and likely to succeed. He explains how defending against IRGC aggression could, in addition to deterring illegal conduct, convince Iran to negotiate in earnest. And he describes in detail how, if Iran does respond to US defensive actions by seeking genuine diplomatic engagement, the United States should engage with Iran on the basis of proven practices applied in US/Soviet negotiations. This book clarifies why, as in dealing with other international security challenges, effective diplomacy based on strength is the most likely formula for securing peace without resort to major conflict.

Details

  • Title Taking on Iran: Strength, Diplomacy, and the Iranian Threat
  • Author Abraham D. Sofaer
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Edition Updated
  • Pages 200
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Hoover Institution Press
  • Date 2013
  • ISBN 9780817916343 / 0817916342
  • Weight 1.04 lbs (0.47 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.54 x 6.11 x 0.73 in (24.23 x 15.52 x 1.85 cm)
  • Themes
    • Cultural Region: Middle Eastern
  • Library of Congress subjects United States, Iran
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2015304583
  • Dewey Decimal Code 327.174

About the author

Abraham D. Sofaer, who served as legal adviser to the US Department of State from 1985 to 1990, was appointed the first George P. Shultz Distinguished Scholar and Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution in 1994. During his service as legal adviser, he was responsible for US/Iran negotiations at the Iran/US Tribunal in The Hague.
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