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  • Foreign Policy Magazine

    The Islamic Republic of Hysteria

    Jan 22, 2018 5 minutes
    By Stephen M. Walt
    Illustration by ZAK BICKEL

    TO THE EXTENT THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION has a discernible Middle East strategy, it is to contain and confront Iran. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, and President Donald Trump himself have all denounced Iran’s regional activities. (In February, after Iranian ballistic missile tests, Trump tweeted that the country was “playing with fire.”) In October, the White House announced that moving forward, the official U.S. policy is aimed at “neutralizing Iran’s destabilizing influence and constraining its aggression.”

    Trump and his aides appear to have embraced the view that Iran is a potential hegemon poised to dominate the Middle East—and specifically to control the oil-rich Persian Gulf. This logic helps make sense of Trump’s unswerving support for Saudi Arabia, including his endorsements (both tacit

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