Dennis Ross, a former special assistant to President Barack Obama, is the counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fellow at The Washington Institute.
Ray Takeyh is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Articles & Testimony
As the negotiations with Iran enter a critical stage, Washington needs to develop bipartisan consensus about the parameters of an acceptable agreement.
Arms control has often been a bone of contention between the White House and Congress. Presidents and their diplomats prefer to reach agreements in secret and then shield the accord from congressional scrutiny, much less consent. It is all too tempting for the Obama administration to follow this script as it negotiates with Iran. But that would be a mistake. Notwithstanding partisan difficulties, seeking congressional endorsement is essential lest any agreement rest on a shaky foundation and be difficult to implement.
Two of President Obama's predecessors offer a path worthy of emulation. Harry Truman did much to anchor the institutions of the Cold War in a durable domestic consensus. Richard Nixon, in turn, created the modern arms-control architecture and managed to persuade both parties on the importance of nuclear restraint...
