Big Ideas for a New America: Time for a U.S.-Iranian Grand Bargain

Washington, DC -- The next U.S. president, whether it is John McCain or Barack Obama, should reorient American policy toward the Islamic Republic of Iran as fundamentally as President Nixon transformed American policy toward the People's Republic of China in the early 1970s. 

This is the argument put forth by Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann Leverett in "Time for a U.S.-Iranian Grand Bargain," the third proposal in New America's Big Ideas series. The paper will be discussed and released Tuesday, October 7th, at a New America Foundation event.

In the paper, the Leveretts argue that nearly three decades of U.S. policy emphasizing diplomatic isolation, escalating economic pressure and thinly veiled support for regime change have damaged the interests of the United States and its allies in the Middle East. They contend that what's needed is a U.S.-Iranian "grand bargain," in which all of the principal bilateral differences between the United States and Iran would be resolved as a "package."

Flynt Leverett is former senior director for Middle East affairs at the National Security Council, and directs the Geopolitics of Energy Initiative in the New America Foundation's American Strategy Program. Hillary Mann Leverett is chief executive officer of Stratega, a political risk consulting firm.  From 2001-2003, she served as director for Iran, Afghanistan and Persian Gulf Affairs at the National Security Council.

The Leveretts also explore the idea of a grand bargain in the latest issue of The Washington Monthly, as part of the special report, "The Stakes, 2008." Both the Big Ideas paper and the article will be available at the October 7th event in DC. For those who cannot attend in person, the event will be WEBCAST LIVE on the event web page, and the documents will be posted there as well.

Mr. Leverett and Mrs. Mann Leverett are available for interviews and media appearances; they are based in the Washington D.C. area. For an advance copy of the paper, or to arrange interviews with the Leveretts, please call Erin Drankoski at 202-997-8727 or e-mail drankoski@newamerica.net.

Highlights from the Paper Include:

"While every U.S. administration since 1979 has sought to isolate the Islamic Republic diplomatically and press it economically, issue-specific cooperation has also been pursued by each of those administrations: by the Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations in Lebanon, the Clinton administration in Bosnia, and the current Bush administration in Afghanistan. In all of these cases, Iran delivered much-not all, but much-of what Washington asked."

"A grand bargain, in our view, is the only way in which the United States can develop and sustain a genuinely constructive relationship with the Islamic Republic. Unfortunately, the current policy debate about Iran in the United States is not conditioning the kind of fundamental shift in American policy that is needed. While there is greater 'space' today for consideration of some sort of diplomatic engagement with Tehran, much of the policy debate in the United States is still focused on how to contain various 'threats' emanating from the Islamic Republic."

"Pursuing a U.S.-Iranian grand bargain should start with the definition of a strategic framework for improving relations between the United States and the Islamic Republic. . . To meet both sides' strategic needs in a genuinely comprehensive manner, a framework structuring a U.S.-Iranian grand bargain would have to address at least three sets of issues:

1. U.S. security interests, including stopping what Washington sees as Iran's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, its support for terrorism, its opposition to a negotiated settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and its problematic role in Iraq and Afghanistan;
2. Iran's security interests, including extending U.S. security assurances to the Islamic Republic, lifting unilateral U.S. and multilateral sanctions against Iran, and acknowledging the Islamic Republic's place in the regional and international order; and 
3. developing a cooperative approach to regional security."

"Affirmation of the Algiers Accord's validity by a new U.S. administration would send a powerful signal to Tehran about the potential for substantial improvement in U.S.-Iranian ties. We believe that, in an atmosphere of enhanced confidence, it would be possible for U.S. and Iranian representatives to explore and codify a strategic framework for the reordering of U.S.-Iranian relations."

Additional Information:
Event: A Grand Bargain With Iran: www.newamerica.net/events/2008/grand_bargain_iran
Mr. Flynt Leverett's bio: www.newamerica.net/people/flynt_leverett
Geopolitics of Energy Initiative Overview: www.newamerica.net/programs
Previous papers in New America's Big Ideas series: www.newamerica.net/bigideas

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The New America Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy institute that invests in new thinkers and new ideas to address the next generation of challenges facing the United States.  Headquartered in Washington D.C., New America also has offices in California.

Learn More About: Flynt Leverett
Related Programs: The Bernard L. Schwartz Fellows Program, American Strategy Program, Geopolitics of Energy Initiative, Transnational Issues
Topics: Foreign Policy, Iran, Trade & Globalization