Preemption and Iran

Tension with Iran is building. And many predict America's next war will be with Iran, either through the services of Israel, or directly.

But will it come to that ? Ever since Bush's axis of evil, and the doctrine of preemption that comes with it, Iran is on the hit list it seems. Still, the rhetoric of the axis of evil tends to obscure the fact that America's policy towards Iran over the past four administrations, has been quite consistent : if there is to be regime change, it will have to come from the inside...

Read more in my latest contribution to Australia's On Line Opinion here

This short piece is part of a much more extensive and in-depth case-study of Iran's relations with the United States, exemplified in politics of mutual demonization. Ahmadinejad's letter to Bush and America's subsequent reactions are a case in point. Download the full essay (37 pages, including a transcript of Ahmadinejad's letter) here.