A New Iran Nuclear Deal Would Help Prove America Is Truly Back

For decades, the greatest threat to world peace was that we lived in a bipolar world. Today it may be that that world is dominated by a bipolar superpower.

The latest example of America’s split personality is the progress that is currently being made toward reviving the deal to freeze Iran’s nuclear program.

Don’t get me wrong; getting this deal restarted is a good thing by any measure. (You can tell because the Israelis are against it and they have been wrong about this deal since Day One.) But the still-prospective agreement illustrates a phenomenon that is very troubling to both our allies and our enemies—and which also came up in the discussions with the Iranians.

Dems Do Big F*cking Deals, the GOP Does Fake Big Dick Energy

The U.S. was a driving force behind the multi-national effort to freeze Iran’s nuclear program (during the Obama years) before it unilaterally pulled out of it (under Trump). In renegotiating the agreement, a common Iranian question—and one heard behind the scenes from our allies—was: “How long will the Biden administration’s support for striking a deal last?” And will Donald Trump (or a Trump-like president) get elected who will again seek to scuttle the pact?

Administration officials who have been working to resuscitate the accords are worried the cavernous divide between Democratic and Republican views on such a deal might actually manifest itself sooner—with GOP efforts to torpedo approval for any final agreement in the U.S. Senate.

It is immensely difficult for the U.S. to lead when no one knows for sure which direction we will be heading following the next presidential election. Of course, there have always been policy differences between presidents and opposition parties. But there was an understanding that the U.S. should try to present a unified front when dealing with foreign entities, and that the commitments made by prior administrations would, by and large, be respected. The full faith and credit of the U.S. government meant something in financial markets—and our word meant something as a foundation of our diplomacy.

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But that was before the polarization and scorched-earth politics of the past few years.

Despite articles you may have read which suggested that Biden and Trump policies had something in common (as is inevitable), the yawning gaps between the two factions in American politics remain shocking and bewildering to the…