Policy Resource

(Washington) When judgment is rendered on the success or failure of U.S. foreign policy in 2010 the verdict will depend more than anything on the outcome of our confrontation with Iran.

The threat to U.S. global interests from Iran is immense, but so too is the opportunity for a historic and transformational advancement of those interests. Converging circumstances in both Washington and Teheran strongly suggest that a decisive turning point is at hand.

In the only debate of the 1980 Presidential campaign, Republican challenger Ronald Reagan turned to Democratic President Jimmy Carter and famously quipped “Well, there you go again”. Carter had just argued passionately for a National Health Insurance plan and an increase in government-run Medicare. Reagan used the quip to underscore the Democrats desire for yet another large government program that would accomplish little while ignoring more common-sense Republican approaches.

Capitalism is intrinsically a moral economic and political system because it accommodates the complexities of the nature of man. For the purpose of this article capitalism is defined as an economic and political system in which interactions among individuals are premised on the notions of liberty, private property, and freedom of contract and association.  In a capitalist system property and capital are owned by private individuals rather than a central government (i.e. socialism).