What are the repercussions of this abdication of super power status?
Smith: I think Washington’s regional allies have a very clear sense of what it means for them. A victory for Iran and the resistance bloc – Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas, etc. – means that they are on the defensive and have to play to block. The Arabs will cut deals with the Iranians and their allies, and/or they are forced into other security arrangements, for instance, aligning themselves with Al Qaeda and other Sunni militant groups. The Israelis will have to decide whether they can best afford to alienate an American president whose term of office is limited to no more than seven more years or try to contain a quasi-millenarian state with the bomb that has threatened to destroy them. For pro-democracy forces in the Arab states, and perhaps Iran as well, an American loss of will amounts to an unqualified disaster. An active Iranian nuclear program would be powerful evidence that resistance works. Those publicly advocating in the region on behalf of democratic principles like rule of law a
