ABSTRACT
After almost three decades of interminable and tumultuous interaction with the countries of the region and, for that matter with the world, Iran is still at square one. At the other end of the spectrum, the US is not doing any better. Yet, both Iran and the US must know that they can succeed in achieving their goals in pursuit of their national interests in the region much more easily and with less costly consequences if they reconcile their differences. However, as we learned from the cold war, Iran, just like the USSR, cannot win this war, and the US, given its immense economic, military, and political superiority, can bleed and live without Iran for a long period of time. Why can they not recognize that reconciliation, when it eventually happens, will not be a zero-sum deal?
