Iran protests, US strategy toward Tehran, regime change, Israel’s role in the Middle East and Washington’s long-term plans for Iran are at the heart of today’s live stream on Syriana Analysis. In this episode, I examine how the United States approaches Iran not through genuine diplomacy, but through a calibrated mix of pressure, inducements and internal destabilization.
I return to a revealing 2009 Brookings Institution strategy paper titled “Which Path to Persia?”, which laid out multiple options for dealing with Iran: persuasion, engagement, sanctions, military pressure and regime change. What matters is not only what the paper proposed, but what it normalized — the idea that diplomacy and coercion are not alternatives, but tools to be used together.
We explore how regime change thinking evolved from direct invasion toward decapitation strategies, elite pressure, internal fragmentation and managed transitions — approaches that do not require occupying a country or rebuilding it from scratch. From Venezuela to Iran, the pattern is clear: pressure the leadership, signal vulnerability to elites, and reshape the state without collapsing it.
This discussion also looks at Israel’s strategic calculations, the role of think tanks in shaping US foreign policy, and why Iran’s internal fatigue, legitimacy crisis and elite drift create the vulnerabilities external powers seek to exploit.
The goal of this stream is not to defend or attack Iran’s leadership, but to understand how modern empires operate when they are calm, methodical and planning — and why ignoring that reality is dangerous for Tehran and the wider region.
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🎥 Syriana Analysis is an independent platform providing in-depth geopolitical insights, founded by award-winning journalist Kevork Almassian. This channel aims to offer well-researched commentary that broadens understanding of international relations, conflict zones, and media narratives.
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