A pan-arabist view

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The irony of all this, of course, is that Iran, without a nuclear weapon, is well placed to claim leadership as the single most powerful nation of the Persian Gulf and perhaps of the Middle East itself. Yet, as Heisbourg so compellingly points out, if armed with a nuclear weapon, its advantage evaporates, as a nuclear arms race in the region would find a host of other neighboring states buying their way into the nuclear arms club and aligning themselves with the superpowers. Iran would again find itself isolated, alone, shunned and boycotted. Indeed the Iranian people, while they might accept being bashed by the Great Satan (George Bush's America), they "take badly their country being perceived by the world as a sort of leprous regime of the North Korean type rather than as a great nation," Heisbourg points out.

As Heisbourg's final chapter ("The Hour of Choices") concludes, we must continue to hold firm on non-proliferation, treat Iran in all respects like North Korea (negotiate where appropriate, but from a position of strength). Otherwise, the West would seem to be in a position of simply stumbling along behind an America that's been crippled by its multiple failures in Iraq but which must, at all costs, restore its credibility.

Heisbourg's scenarios, he admits, are written "without joy," but from a profound sense of reality by one who has, quite frankly, seen it all.

In short, learn French if you must-- Iran, Le Choix des Armes is indeed a must-read book for our times.

Iran's Adventures in the Region will Fail

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