Geopolitics of Energy Initiative

The notion of a "grand bargain" has been most commonly raised in recent years in connection with Iran in which, according to its most persistent proponents, former Bush Gulf experts Flynt and Hillary Mann Leverett, Washington would provide security guarantees to the Islamic Republic, normalise bilateral ties, and develop a cooperative approach to regional security -- including Iraq and Afghanistan -- in exchange for a halt to Tehran's alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons, support for Hezbollah, Hamas, and other groups… more

In one example, Damascus provided intelligence that helped prevent an attack on the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain. Flynt Leverett, a former member of Bush's National Security Council during his first term, confirmed that Syrian cooperation helped "thwart an operation that, if carried out, would have killed a lot of Americans." LINK

Congressional sources said the defeat of the resolution marked increasing American reluctance to confront Iran. The sources said opposition could increase amid the global credit crisis.

"The next president needs to reorient U.S. policy toward Iran as fundamentally as President Nixon did with China in the 1970s," former National Security Council official Flynt Leverett said.

Leverett published a study with his wife, Hillary Mann, that argued that Washington's policy against Iran has ended up hurting U.S. interests. He called on the… more

Flynt Leverett, who was on President Bush's national security staff, hopes for an entirely new approach toward Iran -- what he calls a "grand bargain."

"The next president of the United States, whoever he is, needs to reorient American policy toward the Islamic Republic of Iran as fundamentally as President Nixon reoriented American policy toward the People's Republic of China in the early 1970s," Leverett says.

Speaking at the New America Foundation this week, Leverett said he thinks U.S. diplomats are trying to keep options open for the next president.… more

In an effort to help the United States counter al-Qaida after the 9/11 attack, Iran rounded up hundreds of Arabs who had crossed the border from Afghanistan, expelled many of them and made copies of nearly 300 of their passports, a former Bush administration official said Tuesday.

The copies were sent to Kofi Annan, the U.N. secretary-general, who passed them on to the… more

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 reoriented American policy toward the People's Republic of China in the early 1970s. Nearly three decades of U.S. policy toward Iran 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. U.S.-Iranian tensions have been… more

The next U.S. president, whether it is Sen. John McCain or Sen. 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. Their idea is also explored in… more

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… more

In the wake of Russia’s military incursion into Georgia, too many current, former, and aspiring U.S. officials are caricaturing the Russian state that was shaped and is still guided by Vladimir Putin as a revisionist aggressor. For Robert Kagan, John McCain’s neoconservative foreign policy adviser, as well as for long-time Democratic foreign policy hands Richard Holbrooke and Ronald Asmus, Russia’s actions in Georgia are comparable to Hitler’s invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1938. For Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Russia’s actions are more reminiscent of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Czechoslovakia in… more

Former Senior Director at the National Security Council and current Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation, Flynt Leverett, discusses how President Bush should handle Russia's invasion of Georgia, a U.S. ally. LINK to video