The Program: “The Problem of Iran: Rethinking US Middle East Policy.” After the killing of Qassem Suleimani, a senior Iranian general, the United States and Iran almost went to war. While both sides have temporarily de-escalated, Washington and Tehran remain on a collision course and the likelihood of a military confrontation remains extremely high. This lecture examines the crisis in US-Iran relations during the Trump Administration. The key questions that will shape this presentation are: how did we get here and how can “the problem of Iran” be resolved in a way that meets the national security demands of the United States while also accommodating the political aspirations of the Iranian people.

Dr Nader Hashemi is the Director of the Center of Middle East Studies at the University of Denver Joseph Korbel School of International Studies. He holds a PHD from the University of Toronto. He specializes in studying the intersection of comparative politics and political theory, in particular debates on religion and democracy, secularism and its discontents, Middle East and Islamic politics, democratic and human rights struggles in non-Western societies and Islam-West relations. He is a member of the Middle East Studies Association. His articles appear in publications around the world.