Teaching with the News

The U.S. and Iran: Confronting Policy Alternatives

NEW! Iran Through the Looking Glass: History, Reform, and Revolution provides historical context for the current issues .

News about the U.S. relationship with Iran and Iran’s uranium enrichment program appears frequently in the headlines these days. The Bush administration, as well as many other leaders around the world, worry that Iran is looking to build nuclear weapons. Iran claims it is only developing nuclear power, which it has a right to do under international law. There is much debate about how to respond to this issue. The United Nations Security Council has imposed sanctions and worked to resolve the conflict through multilateral talks for several years. At the end of October 2007 the United States announced it would impose new, unilateral financial sanctions against Iran and labeled a portion of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the Quds Force, as well as four state-owned banks as supporters of terrorism. The administration has also said the Revolutionary Guards are illegal exporters of ballistic missiles.

While a new assessment by American intelligence agencies concluded in early December 2007 that Iran froze its nuclear weapons program in 2003, the assessment also stated that the agencies “do not know whether [Iran] currently intends to develop nuclear weapons.” This finding has not quieted concern about the possibility of a nuclear armed Iran.

The U.S. and Iran : Confronting Policy Alternatives is an interactive lesson plan that engages students in consideration of divergent policy alternatives concerning U.S. policy on Iran.

This lesson includes:

Policy Options: Four Policy Options help students think about divergent policy alternatives, each driven by different underlying values, each with merits and trade-offs. The Options provided have been developed with input from the research staff at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University.

Lesson Plan: A two-period lesson plan is provided. It is focused on role-play and deliberation exploring the four Policy Options. Teachers are encouraged to integrate the suggested background resources into their courses as appropriate.

Additional Resources from the Choices Program

Iran Through the Looking Glass: History, Reform, and Revolution traces the history of Iran from its early dynasties to the present and help students understand the political and cultural conditions that led to the 1979 Revolution and its aftermath.

Coming Soon! Scholars Online provides video taped interviews with researchers designed for use in classrooms, for homework, and for professional development.

Supplemental Materials for Iran Through the Looking Glass: History, Reform, and Revolution provides links to additional resources related to this issue.

Additional Online Resources

Country Profile: Iran - BBC News Online
Provides an overview of Iran.

Online NewsHour with Jim Lehrer (PBS)
Governing Iran provides continually updated interviews and news stories on a range of issues related to Iran.

Inside Iran - BBC News Online
Provides interviews, news stories, analysis, and fact sheets on Iran.

National Public Radio - Iran
NPR provides audio and print stories on Iran.

In Focus: IAEA and Iran
The International Atomic Energy Agency provides links to reports, documents, and press stories.

Council on Foreign Relations - Iran
The Council on Foreign Relations provides news and analysis on Iran.

US State Department - Iran
The U.S. State Department provides background, news, Congressional testimony on Iran and U.S. Iran policy.

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Review a list of Choices publications: In addition to its online resources, the Choices Program publishes a wide range of curriculum units on historical turning points and current issues. All published units include extensive background readings and accompanying lesson plans. Ordering is available online.