It is easy to call for a dialog between the United States and Iran. Few, other than ideological hardliners on both sides, are likely to oppose the need to talk at some level. The last few years of needless war scares have also shown how important a mix of informal diplomacy and formal policy level statements can be… If nothing else, any form of dialog helps avoid needless misunderstandings and tensions. …
The fact remains, however that dialog is not an end in itself, and cannot bridge over fundamental ideological and strategic differences…The United States and Iran remain far apart on a range of key issues where compromise may be difficult or impossible. It is also all too apparent that neither the United States nor Iran has any unified view of how talks should begin…
Both sides will have to make hard, and perhaps impossible compromises to move forward. Both will also have to focus far more realistically on the fundamental issues of interest to each side, and avoid becoming bogged down in ideology, divisive rhetoric, and domestic political priorities. It is far from clear that this is possible, but even a meaningful attempt requires a better focus on both sides on what the issues are that really divide the two nations and whether they are possible to resolve. Access the full article>>