Unthinkable: Iran, the Bomb, and American Strategy

The world’s foremost expert on Middle Eastern relations examines Iran’s current nuclear potential and charts America’s future course of action. How close are we to a nuclear Iran? What does it mean for American foreign policy? How did we get to this point? And what do we do now? In Unthinkable, Kenneth Pollack, a former CIA analyst with twenty-five years of experience working on the Middle East, explores America’s intractable problem with Iran, Tehran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability, and the pro-longed clash that led us to this point. Pollack lays out key solutions to the Iran nuclear ques-tion, explaining and assessing the options for American policymakers: • Redoubling our efforts at a carrot-and-stick approach that combines negotiations and sanctions • Aiding the Iranian opposition to bring about a popular form of regime change • An Israeli military strike • The American military option • Containing a nuclear Iran Insightful, powerful, and balanced in its approach, Unthinkable is one of the most thought-ful and important books on foreign policy in the past decade.

About the Author :
Kenneth Pollack is a well-known expert on the Middle East and Persian Gulf and has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Charlie Rose, C-SPAN, and NPR. He is a senior fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC. Dr. Pollack earned his BA from Yale and a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the author of seven other books on the political, military, and economic affairs of the Middle East, including Unthinkable, The Threatening Storm and The Persian Puzzle.

Review :
"Learned, lucid and deeply sobering." “[A]n engrossing book…Mr. Pollack has produced an account that is mercifully free of swagger. If Congress gets a vote on going to war with Iran, let’s hope that this book is on everyone’s reading lists. It might just change a few minds.” “Pollack has provided a useful briefing for anyone seeking to better understand what drives Iranian policy. Even more, he tackles the nature of the challenge the country poses to the United States. The book proves a valuable tool for pushing back on claims that containment is just a policy of surrender. In making the case here that containment is the worst possible strategy, except for all the others, Pollack has contributed to a smarter, more reality-based Iran policy debate.” "[T]he great strength of Unthinkable is that Pollack includes enough evidence for those who disagree with him to make their case. That is what makes his book not only informative, but an essential contribution to the debate." One of the Best Books of 2013 One of the 100 Notable Books of 2013