05-Domestic Politics, Nuclear Choices, and the Iran Deal

Guests:Elizabeth Saunders is an Associate Professor at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and a faculty member in the Security Studies Program. She is also a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Project on International Order and Strategy at the Brookings Institution.Suzanne Maloney  is the Interim Vice President and Director of the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution, where she focuses on the politics of Iran and the Persian Gulf.International Security Article:This episode is based on Elizabeth N. Saunders, “The Domestic Politics of Nuclear Choices — A Review Essay,” International Security, Vol. 44, No. 2 (Fall 2019), pp. 146–184.Additional Related Readings:David Sanger, “A mericans and Iranians See Constraints at Home in Nuclear Negotiations,”New York Times, July 13, 2014.Anthony Cordesman, “The Iran Nuclear Deal and the Threat from American Domestic Politics,” Center for Strategic and International Studies, September 10, 2015.Ariane Tabatabai, “How Iran Will Determine the Nuclear Deal’s Fate,” Foreign Affairs, May 16, 2018.Suzanne Maloney, “Trump Wants a Bigger, Better Deal with Tehran. What Does Tehran Want?,”Brookings Institution, August 8, 2018.Nahal Toosi, “Democrats Want to Rejoin the Iran Nuclear Deal. It’s Not That Simple,” Politico, July 20, 2019.Patrick Wintour,“Purge of Reformists in Iran Election Could Doom Nuclear Deal, Say Diplomats,” The Guardian, February 9, 2020.Originally released on February 13, 2020