Do the Same Ideas Still Matter 200 Years Later?

Iran and the United States are currently engaged in a head-to-head over Iran’s nuclear weapons. It is hard to see how the debate will end, because neither side are willing to bend very far, or accommodate the other in the slightest.

Vice President Joe Biden, on behalf of President Barack Obama vowed, “The United States will not sign a bad deal”, and the debate over Iran’s nuclear weapons has been extended several months in order for them to keep this promise. The United states believes that under no circumstances should a deal be signed giving Iran easy access to their weapons. They believe they need an agreement in which Iran, if they decide to proceed with a nuclear attack, would not be able to follow through with the attack for at least several years, giving the United States (or other target) more time to deal with the potential of an attack and to hopefully be able to stop it. The United States and other world leaders involved want to drastically reduce Iran’s weapon stockpile, ideally even lessening to an amount too small to even make one bomb. The other parts of the deal for Iran including full-time security surrounding all nuclear activity in the country, and setting standards to stop Iran from using them as military devices. One of the largest reasons the United States needs Iran to sign this agreement, is because they fear that if the are too lenient with Iran, other Middle Eastern countries will begin to engage in nuclear programs as well. Because Iran does not seem to be responding to the offer of money, it is thought that the United States will have to move to their next plan of action: threatening a military strike. However, they only want to threaten a military strike; if the United States actually has to enter into combat against Iran, the global safety will be put at extremely high risk.

The Monroe Doctrine was put into effect in 1823 and was designed to give the President guidance on how to handle different foreign policy situations. This document helped leaders know when to interfere in foreign affairs and when to stay out. The basic principle in the doctrine still apply to today. One of the ideas written in the doctrine is non-intervention unless our country is being directly affected. This situation is not in our country, but it does have a strong effect on us. If no one was working to stop Iran, they would bomb several countries including ours, and the loss would be devastating. Although it is Iran’s business, the United States is as risk, which makes t also our business.

When the doctrine was written, nuclear warfare was not a concern two hundred years ago, but the ideas they wrote it to protect the country, and it is still being used in the same way today.  

Yadlin, Amos, and Avner Golov. "How to Avoid a Bad Deal With Iran." Foreign Policy How to Avoid a Bad Deal With Iran Comments. Foreign Policy, 3 Dec. 2014. Web. 06 Dec. 2014.