Toward an Economic Strategy against Iran

In the evolving American debate over strategy toward the Islamic Republic of Iran, the idea of economic warfare—the coordinated application of punitive trade/inflationary/socioeconomic pressures—has received comparatively little attention. This is somewhat surprising, given the intrinsic vulnerabilities, ranging from a heavy dependence on foreign refined petroleum to a centralized economic hierarchy, now visible within the Iranian economy. This article outlines these “points of entry,” and details the economic approaches that U.S. policymakers can employ in order to convince the Iranian regime that the real costs of its nuclear program are likely to outweigh the potential benefits of atomic acquisition

Development economics · Economic cost · Economics · Hierarchy · International trade · Islamic republic · Neoclassical economics · Nuclear weapon · Order (exchange · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Punitive damages · Socioeconomic status · Sociology · Economic Sanctions and International Relations · Finance · Law