It's not that I fault Bush for this, and I'm glad he's taking seriously the element of national pride that helps fuel Iran's nuclear ambitions, but after forthrightly acknowledging nationalism's role in his interview with David Ignatius, how can he suggest this as a solution?
He proposed that the West supply enriched uranium to Iran and other countries, and collect the nuclear waste. He argued that this global program "would be a solution that would answer a deep desire from the Iranian people to have a nuclear power industry."
If American provides Iran's enriched uranium and disposes of their nuclear waste, America, not Iran, controls the country's nuclear power industry. If the Iranian people hunger for atomic energy as a way to codify the importance and sophistication of their country, how will becoming a technological protectorate of the US satisfy?
It would seem that bilateral negotiations where Bush expresses these concerns directly, and therefore elevates Iran by proving that America takes their concerns and threat seriously, might help. Bush did allow Khatami's visit to the US and encouraged [Iraqi prime minister] Maliki's trip to Tehran, which bespeaks a certain willingness to create contact, but he remains stubbornly set against the formal, bilateral negotiations which could help calm the country's inferiority complex. But if this psychology is what Bush thinks is motivating Iranian public sentiment in favor of nukes, and he doesn't want Iran to get nukes, he's got to figure out another way to satisfy the country's hunger for respect.
