This Friday, Abbas Milani argues that only a rejection of the Khamenei regime by the Iranian people, and their embrace of democracy, can resolve Iran’s nuclear threats. Michael McFaul shares the most pressing questions on his mind ahead of a possible American strike on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. And Jacquelyn Schneider shows how new unmanned military technologies are changing the battlefield in Ukraine and across the Middle East, with significant implications for the future of US defense.
US Foreign Policy in the Middle East
In a commentary piece for Project Syndicate, Research Fellow Abbas Milani argues that a long-term solution to the problem of Iran’s nuclear program and regional aggression depends on the Iranian people changing their form of government and ejecting the current regime from power. Milani writes, “As with the Palestinians, the lives of innocent Iranian citizens must be safeguarded. Iran’s people and their democratic aspirations are the only hope for changing the regime.” Milani emphasizes that “any deal with this brutal, hypocritical regime will be broken as soon as its leaders believe that they have gotten clear of their current predicament,” underscoring the need for a turn toward democratic governance. To do this, Milani calls for supporting “democratic voices within Iran” and their allies across the Iranian diaspora. Iran’s people, Milani writes, “cannot but benefit from the end of a regime mired in the dogmatism of a nonagenarian cabal.” Milani also discussed Iran’s regime and US foreign policy on PBS News Hour. Read more here.
Writing at his Substack, Senior Fellow Michael McFaul argues that the “mullahs ruling Iran can never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.” But, he notes, even if that “goal is clear, the best strategy for denying Iran a nuclear weapon is not.” McFaul stresses that going to war “should always be the last resort,” and that bombing Iran would be very costly. McFaul proceeds to share questions he has for the current administration, beginning with, “is Iran really weeks away from obtaining a nuclear weapon?” After considering reasons to doubt the claim that Iran is on the verge of achieving nuclear breakout, McFaul asks, “if the Israeli strikes have been successful against Iran’s nuclear facilities, doesn’t that push out the clock for when Iran can obtain a nuclear weapon and buy time for diplomacy?” The piece proceeds to lay out five more questions. McFaul summarizes in his conclusion, “Americans should examine the pros and cons of the decision to go to war more seriously and deliberatively.” Read more here.
US Security and Defense
At Defining Ideas, Hoover Fellow Jacquelyn Schneider analyzes the “unmanned revolution” in combat playing out in the Middle East and Ukraine, framing the story as one of “intense and rapid experimentation and innovation.” Schneider asks, “How are these wars changing our understanding of drones and warfare, and will they force the United States to reevaluate its beliefs about unmanned technology and the future of the American way of war?” Building on her recent publication, with Julia Macdonald, of The Hand Behind Unmanned: Origins of the US Autonomous Arsenal (Oxford University Press, 2025), Schneider examines the key strategic considerations raised by the rapid advance of autonomous weapons. Fundamentally, Schneider concludes, “The United States will need to reevaluate the wars it wants to fight and whether the drone revolution, playing out in real time in Ukraine or Israel, can be a copy-paste for the future American way of war.” Read more here.
Answering Challenges to Advanced Economies
Today, the Hoover Institution Press features the upcoming publication Fifty Years of the Shadow Open Market Committee: A Retrospective on Its Role in Monetary Policy, a deep dive into the fifty-year history of the Shadow Open Market Committee (SOMC). The SOMC is a group of private academic economists that acts as the Federal Reserve’s outside watchdog, providing candid, economically grounded critiques of the Fed’s conduct of policy. The volume, based on a two-day symposium held at the Hoover Institution October 13–14, 2024, examines the evolution of the Fed’s monetary and credit policies and critical issues it faces today. In an environment where the Federal Reserve can significantly affect economic performance, the scholarly contributors to this book emphasize the importance of rules-based monetary policy focused on price stability as the Fed’s best contribution to healthy economic growth and maximum employment, and of credible and predictable credit market policy as supporting financial stability. Read more here.
Revitalizing American Institutions
At his The Volokh Conspiracy blog, Senior Fellow Eugene Volokh quotes from and links to a recent article in the Washington Free Beacon arguing that the Harvard Law Review “selects articles based on race.” While noting that he will be on the lookout for a response from the Review to share with his readers, Volokh says it is “valuable to know more about how an institution that has historically aimed to be seen as a leading scholarly journal, rather than just as an ideological advocacy organization, actually operates.” Volokh then suggests two questions raised by the controversy. First, “whether a law review's race-based selection decisions (if such have been made) violate anti-discrimination law,” and second, “whether a law review might have a First Amendment defense to any such charges.” Volokh closes the piece by reiterating how he primarily is interested in “what such journals are actually doing.” Read more here.
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