Why doesn't America have diplomatic communications with Iran? Why does Iran pursue a nuclear program? 

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Vali Nasr about the history of U.S.-Iran diplomacy, or more precisely, the lack thereof. But it didn't have to be this way. Dr. Nasr tells the story about historic moments of missed opportunities, where we could have perhaps better managed our relationship with Iran and averted more crises and instability in the region. 

Dr. Nasr is a Professor of Middle East Studies and International Affairs at Johns Hopkins University… and from 2012 to 2019 he served as the Dean of Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies.

Dr. Nasr has advised senior American policymakers, including the President, Secretary of State, senior members of Congress, and presidential campaigns.

He has authored many books on the Middle East and its proximate regions, including The Dispensable Nation: American Foreign Policy in Retreat, which we talk about in this episode.

To learn more about Dr. Nasr, visit his academic homepage.

Also, don't forget to listen to last year's conversation with Dr. Nasr re Ayatollahs In Iran... Shi'ism & Iran's Complex Leadership Structure (S1E25).

I hope you enjoy these two episodes.

Adel Host of the History Behind News podcast

1. The episode image is an Iranian newspaper clip from 1968 reads: "A quarter of Iran's Nuclear Energy scientists are women." The picture shows some female Iranian PhDs posing in front of Tehran's research reactor.
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