Middle East 201

Iran's nuclear program: a debate. All readers invited.

Technicians work at the Arak heavy water reactor’s secondary circuit.. Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.

Let’s try something new

We haven’t yet finished our study of the Qur'an. But given current events, the class voted to postpone the rest of this discussion and focus instead, this week, on Iran’s nuclear program.¹

Parenthetically, Jim Landen, who recently joined our class, told me that I’m not doing enough to sell Middle East 201. The other students agreed. He apparently thought the class would be grim and intimidating. But he came anyway, and was, I assume, surprised to discover that we’re a warm and lovable bunch. Yes, we’re serious about doing the reading. But we’re chatty and sociable and we always have a good time.

He thought I should stress to you that Middle East 201 is open to all subscribers, so long as you do that week’s reading. You shouldn’t be intimidated by it. (I’m not sure if he said that exactly, but it was something to that effect.)

Middle East 201 is not like Middle East 101. That was organized chronologically, meaning that each week’s reading built directly on what we’d read the previous week. You really did need to attend every class to understand what was going on. But Middle East 201 is broader, more ad hoc, and organized thematically, rather than chronologically. So if you have a special interest in Iran’s nuclear program but have never come to class before, you should feel absolutely free to do the reading and join us. We’d love to have you there. The Zoom link for the class is below.

(How’s that, Jim—better?)

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Reading

I suggested on Sunday that everyone come to class prepared to argue for or against the following propositions:

• Israel should strike Iran’s nuclear facilities immediately.

• The United States should assist Israel in doing so.

Unfortunately, I’m again sending out the reading too late for you to make full use of it before next Sunday. That’s because I had to do a lot of reading myself to get fully up to speed. So here’s my suggestion: Why don’t we hold our debate—to which everyone who’s done the reading is invited—the following Sunday, October 20. We can meet this Sunday at the usual time for a brief discussion of the reading assignment and the week’s news from the Middle East. How does that sound? If anyone objects to this, let me know.

Of course, none of us are in a position to make either argument categorically, because none of us are privy to the intelligence available to decision-makers. Nor do any of us know the full extent of Israel’s or the United States’ military capabilities, or Iran’s, for that matter. But I’d like you to arrive at a judgment based on the information that’s publicly available. Come to class prepared to defend that judgment.

It’s not an easy question to answer. (If you think it is, you haven’t thought about it enough. If you’ve thought about it enough, you’ll be grateful that you don’t have to make the decision.)

But for the purpose of this exercise, please take a stand, and prepare to defend it. This is good for you. You’ll learn more this way.