Differentiated Containment

The Clinton Administrations policy of dual containment of Iran and Iraq has grown increasingly rigid, lacks strategic viability, and carries a high financial and diplomatic cost. Saddam Hussein is still in power in Iraq, and the American campaign to isolate Iran has found few supporters. The Council on Foreign Relations sponsored an independent Task Force to explore policy alternatives toward Iran and Iraq. The Task Force concluded that only a new course of " differentiated containment" will provide the United States with a sustainable policy and achieve the long-term goals of ensuring the security of its allies and protecting the flow of oil. In making its analysis, the Task Force took as its point of departure the work of an independent Study Group that had examined U.S. relations with the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council including the effect of the major U.S. military presence in the Gulf region since Desert Storm. The Study Groupwhose findings are included in this volumealso examined the problems of joblessness and political participation as well as demographic concerns. The Task Force, co-chaired by former National Security Advisors Zbigniew Brzezinski and Brent Scowcroft, included specialists on the region from the ranks of former military and civilian government officials, academics, journalists, and businessmen. This volume also contains a selection of primary documents key to the development of U.S.Gulf policy since 1991, including official statements and documents from the U.S. government and the U.N. Security Council, and views of Gulf and Israeli commentators.