"Nuclear agreement became an ideological target for conservatives in the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia"-US Professor

Ronald Grigor Suny is director of the Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies, the Charles Tilly Collegiate Professor of Social and Political History at the University of Michigan, and Emeritus Professor of political science and history at the University of Chicago. In an interview with ILNA he explains why Donald Trump left the Nuclear Deal:

 

The agreement made by President Obama and other nations with Iran was a significant and important improvement in the prospects for peace.  But it sadly became an ideological target for conservatives in the United States, for Israel, Saudi Arabia, and some other bad actors in the world.  Imagine an agreement that brought Iran, the USA, Russia, and Europe together; that was quite extraordinary.  There is no question that the Nuclear Deal was working well.  Donald Trump, who has an infantile knowledge of history or international relations, recklessly withdrew from the Deal, and just as in the Paris Climate Agreement, dealt a severe blow to the future of the planet.  Wiser heads in Europe, Asia, and Iran hopefully will prevail and find a way around the colossal bully that the United States has become.

 

In the Middle East and Afghanistan the "good intentions" of the American political elite, from George W. Bush, through Obama, to Trump have resulted in enormous pain, damage, and actual deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.  America's liberal universalism, its desire to spread liberal democracy and capitalism to what they consider benighted and backward countries is a demonstration of arrogance by a Superpower that has too much power and not enough intelligence to rule the world in the way it things the world ought to be ruled.  Trump wants to destroy the liberal international order dominated by the United States but has nothing to replace it except his narrontrw narcissistic insistence on America First.

 

The United States needs to reassess its place in the world. It is certainly the dominant power, but as Robespierre said, "Nobody loves an armed missionary."  Because of its wealth and power, the USA will remain a major player, but it has to think seriously about what it can and should seek to achieve  Other countries like Russia, China, and Iran have their own interests, which do not magically conform to those of the United States.  There was a chance a quarter of a century ago when the Soviet Union disintegrated to rethink the world order, but instead the USA decided to recreate the division of Europe, expand NATO, isolate Russia, continue to give Israel unqualified support and sacrifice the Palestinian people, isolate Iran, invade Afghanistan, Iraq, support the Saudis in their obscene war in Yemen, betray once again the Kurds.... one could go on.

The near future looks dark for Iran, not only because of American and Israeli policies and ambitions, but also because Iran itself is sacrificing its future by its repressive politics, not encouraging enough the enlightened youth to pursue their dreams.  The most hopeful thing, in my mind, is that progress cannot be held hostage forever.

Ronald Grigor Suny

The University of Michigan

The University of Chicago