How have shifts in leadership and foreign policy priorities within the United States influenced the trajectory and outcomes of the Iranian nuclear program?

Each student will be expected to write a research paper related to the topic of the class in some way. The paper, which will be due at the end of the semester, must be approximately 6,000 words in length. (In no case should it be less than 5,000 words or more than 8,000 words).

The paper must be a substantial and serious work of scholarship, based on external research (not just internet searches), making use of peer-reviewed journal articles, books and book chapters, scholarly papers, etc. NOTE: This is not just a book report, or a general review of the literature. This is a research paper, which engages in a critical way with a central research question of some kind – using the materials we are discussing during the semester as a starting point. The citations should include a minimum of 2 books and 5 serious scholarly articles.