Seminars

US–Iran hostility has endured since 1979, longer than the Cold War. It remains a vexing challenge for US foreign policy and US domestic politics. Professor Biddle will provide a current assessment of the war. Dr. Kaye will provide historical context to help think about the current state of US-Iranian relations and how much today’s challenges differ-- or not-- from past crises. Professor Saunders will assess the impact of the current war on US domestic politics and the extent to which it may influence the upcoming US elections.

There is a dramatic history yet to be told. How a global superpower, the United States, developed extensive strategic cooperation and a de facto alliance with a small regional actor, Israel, part of a “special relationship”. From today’s vantage point, many would be surprised to learn that the US-Israeli relationship was quite limited in the early decades, only taking on the close and institutionalized strategic relationship we know today in the 1990s. Today, the relationship faces unprecedented strains. A vast literature covers almost every dimension of the US-Israeli relationship, with the major exception of the strategic military and diplomatic cooperation between the two countries. No book-length work has addressed how this dimension of the relationship developed, the details of the different areas of strategic military and diplomatic cooperation today, cases where the two sides have failed each other, critical issues such as US diplomatic cover for Israel’s purported nuclear capabilities, how Israel has become an important strategic partner for the US and addressed critical questions regarding the future of the strategic relationship.