The recent war involving Iran has revived a longstanding debate about the nature of Iranian power and the future of the Middle East. For decades, discussions of Iran in Western policy circles have oscillated between two assumptions: that the Islamic Republic is fundamentally ideological and irrational, or that mounting pressure will eventually bring about its collapse. Yet the outcome of the recent conflict challenges both propositions. Two prominent scholars, Vali Nasr and Robert Pape, approach Iran from different intellectual traditions but arrive at a remarkably similar conclusion. Iran has proven far more resilient than many of its adversaries expected, and any realistic assessment of the Middle East must begin from that fact. Nasr’s recent book, Iran’s Grand Strategy: A Political […]