Unthinkable: Iran, the Bomb, and American Strategy

The world’s foremost expert on Middle Eastern relations examines Iran’s current nuclear potential and charts America’s future course of action.

How close are we to a nuclear Iran? What does it mean for American foreign policy? How did we get to this point? And what do we do now?

In Unthinkable, Kenneth Pollack, a former CIA analyst with twenty-five years of experience working on the Middle East, explores America’s intractable problem with Iran, Tehran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability, and the pro­longed clash that led us to this point. Pollack lays out key solutions to the Iran nuclear ques­tion, explaining and assessing the options for American policymakers:

• Redoubling our efforts at a carrot-and-stick approach that combines negotiations and sanctions
• Aiding the Iranian opposition to bring about a popular form of regime change
• An Israeli military strike
• The American military option
• Containing a nuclear Iran

Insightful, powerful, and balanced in its approach, Unthinkable is one of the most thought­ful and important books on foreign policy in the past decade.