U.S. Policy

Much of the rhetoric surrounding the Iranian nuclear impasse has been marked by Tehran's staunch refusal to budge and pessimism among Western analysts that increasingly strong diplomatic and economic measures will ever have their desired effect. Yet several avenues for progress have opened up amid an environment of incrementally effective

On December 16, Mitchell D. Silber, NYPD Director of Intelligence Analysis, addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute to discuss his new book, The Al Qaeda Factor (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011). Silber examines sixteen Al-Qaeda-associated attacks launched against Western interests since 1993 and identifies potential points of vulnerability

The new financial sanctions against Iran are significant, although key U.S. allies will need to do more to potentially impact the regime's nuclear program decisionmaking.

Washington and Baghdad should begin laying the groundwork for a real strategic relationship that assuages Maliki's insecurities while emphasizing U.S. red lines on Iran, human rights, and other issues.

Privately discussing U.S. concerns about military action against Iran is both responsible and necessary. Musing upon them publicly, however, is a strategic error.

Watch a senior Treasury Department official's discussion of his department's response to the Middle East revolutions of 2011.

The Obama administration's once-powerful message to Egypt about strategic direction, democratic institutions, and economic growth has lost its voice. Even as polls open, it is still not too late to engage Egyptians on the consequences of their vote.

For nuclear diplomacy to succeed, Tehran must believe that the United States will take military action against any effort to build a bomb.

Despite technical setbacks and political indecision, the military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program apparently continue and will become even more challenging over time.