Iran: The foreign policy puzzle that keeps defeating Washington

Why the country continues to trap US presidents in an endless geopolitical crisis

Britain was already struggling by the late 1960s. The country was mired in economic crisis, the pound had been devalued, and the Labour government was forced into painful public spending cuts. At the same time, the glow of Britain’s former imperial influence in the Middle East was fading.

After the Suez Crisis, the region had effectively passed into the hands of the new superpowers...