Center for Middle East Policy
Spotlight: Debating the Iran Nuclear Deal
Brookings experts examine what’s at stake—for the United States, Europe, Iran, and the Middle East more broadly—regarding the Iran nuclear deal, debate the agreement’s merits, and offer recommendations as to the deal’s future.
Suzanne Maloney
Deputy Director - Foreign Policy
Senior Fellow - Center for Middle East Policy, Energy Security and Climate Initiative
Natan Sachs
Director - Center for Middle East Policy
Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center for Middle East Policy
The ceasefire shows yet again the leverage the Taliban now has thanks to its recent attacks. What’s most interesting is that the ceasefire doesn’t apply to the Islamic State. Whereas the Taliban have primarily attacked security forces, the Islamic State’s violence has much been much less selective, and has killed far more civilians. The Taliban’s strategy appears to have paid off— there’s popular support for a ceasefire with the Taliban, but not for one with the Islamic State.
We have a system that was designed in 1975 to work, and security was an afterthought. The security flaws have been known for a long time. They’ve never really been addressed because the underlying technology is so useful.
