Paul Pillar on Iran and Syria

  • Middle East Policy

    Middle East Policy has been one of the world’s most cited publications on the region since its inception in 1982, and our Breaking Analysis series makes high-quality, diverse analysis available to a broader audience.

Middle East Policy Council


In this clip from our recent conference, Policy Choices for the New Administration, Paul Pillar, former National Intelligence Officer and a professor at Georgetown University, asserts that there is little the United States can do to productively shape events in Syria. Dr. Pillar advocates a more flexible negotiating posture with Iran that will explicitly offer sanctions relief for Iranian cooperation on the nuclear issue, but admits that all of this advice will be politically difficult to implement.

Please see below a full video of his comments from Wednesday, October 17 on Capitol Hill:

  • Middle East Policy

    Middle East Policy has been one of the world’s most cited publications on the region since its inception in 1982, and our Breaking Analysis series makes high-quality, diverse analysis available to a broader audience.

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