Kirk M Schultz

Iran Policy Options Kirk M Schultz

Publisher Marketing: The Current Containment policy by the US for Iran is failing. The US should modify its policy to incorporate elements of other potential policy options in order to promote engagement with one of the Middle East's most influential, yet controversial nations. To aid my research, I utilized a modified scenario planning research technique to develop four potential US policy options for Iran. These four policy options include; Containment (current US Policy), Military Intervention, Regime Change through Opposition Support and Normalization. The options are further broken down into the lens of the Diplomatic, Information, Military and Economic Instruments of Power to compare and contrast the effectiveness of each policy option. My conclusions are that Containment is failing and needs to be either improved or rescinded. Military Intervention is untenable at this time and will only cause more problems than solutions. Regime Change through Opposition Support has positive attributes but will take time and could lose the high ground in the war on terror for the US. Finally, Normalization could bring significant positive changes for both sides, but is a difficult solution based on the history of the relationship and the lack of trust between the two nations. The best solution is a modified Normalization policy which retains nuclear containment through UNSC resolutions and policy options for support of Iranian secular opposition within Iran.