Which Path to Persia?: Options for a New American Strategy toward Iran [Paperback]

Kenneth M. Pollack (Author), Daniel L. Byman (Author), Martin S. Indyk (Author), Suzanne Maloney (Author), Michael E. O'Hanlon (Author), Bruce O. Riedel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 13, 2009

Crafting a new policy toward Iran is a complicated, uncertain, and perilous challenge. Since it is an extremely complex society, with an opaque political system, it is no wonder that the United States has not yet figured out the puzzle that is Iran. With the clock ticking on Iran's pursuit of nuclear capabilities, solving this puzzle is more urgent than ever.

In Which Path to Persia? a group of experts with the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings lays out the courses of action available to the United States. What are the benefits and drawbacks of airstrikes? Can engagement be successful? Is regime change possible? In answering such questions, the authors do not argue for one approach over another. Instead, they present the details of the policies so that readers can understand the complexity of the challenge and decide for themselves which course the United States should take.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Pollack (A Path Out of the Desert), research director for the Saban Center, collaborates with five colleagues for this timely and cogent analysis of U.S.-Iranian relations. Dismissing past U.S. policy as not particularly impressive, the authors point to an emerging consensus... that the Obama administration will have to adopt a new policy toward Iran. To that end, they identify nine approaches ranging from diplomacy to military action and containment (the default U.S. policy toward Iran since the Islamic Revolution) and lay out the objectives, costs, pros and cons for each. Avoiding advocacy, the authors lament that all the alternatives are unpalatable and no course is unambiguously better than the others. They further acknowledge that Iran's nuclear ambitions represent an existential threat to Israel and that Israel remains a wild card in any consideration of Iranian policy. U.S.-Iranian relations have long been a minefield, and Pollack and his collaborators carefully identify the potential missteps facing policymakers in this valuable—if wonky—primer. (Sept.)
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Review

In this straightforward and jargon-free book, six American commentators and policy analysts offer a menu of options that Washington can pursue in its dealings with Tehran. --Library Journal

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Product Details

• Paperback: 241 pages
• Publisher: Brookings Institution Press; 1 edition (July 13, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0815703414
• ISBN-13: 978-0815703419
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #376,505 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars War Propaganda, July 28, 2011

By 

Em_ - See all my reviews

This review is from: Which Path to Persia?: Options for a New American Strategy toward Iran (Paperback)

This is written to softly tell the world that the U.S. and Israel are checking strategies off of a checklist before an Iranian invasion.

The authors are Kenneth M. Pollack, former Director on the National Security Council, Senior Research Professor at the National Defense University, and Persian Gulf CIA analyst; Daniel L Byman, Director of the Center for Peace and Security Studies and Associate Professor at Georgetown University, other credentials include the RAND corporation and the 9/11 Commission; Martin Indyk, former Ambassador to Israel, former Assistant Sec. of State, former member of the National Security Council, is noted as being an expert on the Arab-Israeli conflict; Suzanne Maloney, former employee on the State Department's Policy Planning Staff where she was an analyst and made recommendations on Iran, Iraq, and the Middle East, former Middle East adviser at ExxonMobil Corporation, as well as the Task Force on U.S-Iran Relations at the Council on Foreign Relations; Michael E. O' Hanlon, Director of Research for the 21st Century Defense Initiative and Senior Author of the Brookings Iraq Index, former defense budget analyst; Bruce Riedel, former Chairman of Obama's Strategic Review of U.S. Policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan, 30 year CIA veteran, retired, with postings in Europe and the Middle East, former National Security Council, Dept. Ass. Sec. of Defense, and senior adviser for NATO (WPtP? p.xii -xiii) This information is useful, just so the reader knows exactly what interests are contemplating this issue. We can deduce from here that: the NSC, CIA, RAND, ExxonMobil, CFR, State Dept., Israel, NATO, the White House, and two academics have interests, finances, and know how, enough to form policy recommendations to the U.S. and possibly Israel. (Pollack was accused of acting as an informant in an Israeli espionage ring.)

Buy this if you are dedicated, but otherwise it is available online. I gave it 3 stars because of its detail about the strategies.

[...]

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A strongly recommended pick for any concerned about Iran, December 15, 2009

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Which Path to Persia?: Options for a New American Strategy toward Iran (Paperback)

Iran has been a very sensitive subject in recent years. "Which Path to Persia?: Options for a New American Strategy Toward Iran" is a discussion of the United States and its rickety relationship with Iran. With the threat of an extremist and corrupt country with nuclear weapons, the United States must be as gentle as ever, an the Brookings Institute press offers their own ideas and plans for peaceful coexistence between the two countries. "Which Path to Persia?" is a strongly recommended pick for any concerned about Iran.