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Iran Strategy Brief No. 3: The Case For Economic Warfare

January 29, 2008 Ilan I. Berman

What can the United States do about Iran? Today that question, fueled by growing international concern over the Islamic Republic’s persistent nuclear ambitions, has emerged at the forefront of the American strategic debate.

In this calculus, economic measures have received comparatively short shrift. This is because conventional wisdom has it that the United States possesses little leverage that it can bring to bear in order to deter and contain Iran’s nuclear ambitions. In this case, however, the conventional wisdom is wrong; the United States has a considerable number of economic tools at its disposal, despite its lack of trade relations with the Islamic Republic.

Iran Democracy Monitor: No. 66

January 22, 2008 Ilan I. Berman

Back to Iraq;

Negotiating with the Pasdaran;

Iran's ailing economy;

Tehran takes an energy hit

Iran Democracy Monitor: No. 65

January 6, 2008 Ilan I. Berman

The return of Mohammad Khatami;

A new ally in Latin America;

Iran's drug problem;

Courting Cairo

Missile Defense Briefing Report: No. 236

January 3, 2008 Ilan I. Berman

Progress in Europe...;

...and ambivalence in Asia;

Israel focuses on short-range threats;

Arming Iran?;

Russia's response to U.S. missile defense plans

The National Intelligence Guesstimate

December 5, 2007 Ilan I. Berman The American Spectator

In recent weeks, the White House appeared to be gaining serious ground in its efforts to cobble together an international consensus to confront Iran. Today, however, Administration officials are desperately trying to put the pieces of their Iran policy back together. The culprit is the intelligence community's new National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), which asserts that the Iranian regime currently is not in the business of making nuclear weapons.