News Tip: Soleimani Killing ‘Epitomizes Failure’ of Trump’s Iran Strategy, Expert Says

This week’s killing of top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani will push our Iraqi allies closer to Iran and strengthen the Iranian regime domestically, says Duke University professor and national security expert David Schanzer.

Quotes:
“President Trump’s decision to escalate hostilities by killing Qasem Soleimani epitomizes the failure of his strategy for dealing with Iran,” says David Schanzer, professor of the practice at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy and an expert on terrorism.

“Trump abandoned diplomacy as a means to constrain Iran by backing out of the nuclear accord in 2018, opting instead to use punitive economic sanctions to pressure Iran to end its aggressive behavior. The result? Iran is now advancing its nuclear program, acting with greater aggression in the region, and fomenting greater violence inside neighboring Iraq.”

“China and Russia, as well as our closest allies in NATO, oppose our strategy.”

“Also, by engaging in a unilateral act of aggression inside Iraq, we have pushed our Iraqi allies even closer to Iran. Threats of war by the United States -- the so-called ‘great Satan’ -- will strengthen the Iranian regime domestically, the exact opposite goal of our policy.” 

Bio:
David H. Schanzer is a professor of the practice at the Sanford School of Public Policy and director of the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security at Duke University. He specializes in homeland security, counter terrorism strategy, policy and law.
https://sanford.duke.edu/people/faculty/schanzer-david-h

For additional comment, contact David Schanzer at:
schanzer@duke.edu

---

Media Contact:
Keith Lawrence
(919) 681-8059
keith.lawrence@duke.edu