Iran deal a big foreign policy win for Obama

But the fact that such a major security initiative was not backed by a single Republican, and that the treaty can be revoked by a future president, cast a pall over his achievement

Published Mon, Sep 14, 2015 · 09:50 PM

    FOR a decade or two I've been teaching a university course about the US foreign policy process and introduced my students to a few "axioms" that they (I think) are required to apply when trying to analyse how major foreign policy decisions are made in Washington.

    One of these axioms goes like this: When an American president reaches a decision that has to do with core US national interests - with questions relating to war and peace - it becomes almost impossible for any political opponent in Washington, including those on Capitol Hill, to prevent the White House occupant from getting his or her choice approved.

    So I do hope that some of my former students recalled my advice ("Hey, that professor Hadar was right") when they followed the news reports from Washington last week.