Brent Scowcroft Center Resident Senior Fellow for Middle East Security Bilal Y. Saab writes for The National Interest on the need for a comprehensive security strategy in the Middle East in light of the Iran nuclear deal:

The debate over technical and procedural issues of the Iran nuclear deal may have reached a ceiling. Grossly under-analyzed still is how the United States can effectively protect this strategic investment and other vital interests in the Middle East. The deal notwithstanding, the region is burning and its fires could soon consume this limited arms control accord. Washington needs a comprehensive security strategy for a part of the world whose order and stability, whether we like it or not, will continue to be indispensable for global commerce, nuclear nonproliferation, and transnational counterterrorism.

As I argued in a recent Atlantic Council report called “The New Containment: Changing America’s Approach to Middle East Security,” US policy-makers’ consideration of options for Middle East security strategy should be informed by four inescapable realities.

Read the full article here.