As the countries of the world line up into increasingly polarized political camps, the United States is facing a wide range of foreign policy issues that have assumed critical levels in recent weeks. Not only are countries in the Middle East openly defying U.S. hegemony in the region, countries in its own hemisphere such as Venezuela are arming themselves and proclaiming their opposition to American foreign policy as well. In the wake of September 11, 2001, many observers are suggesting that there is no longer any room for second guesses or false starts, and preemptive military action against international pariahs such as North Korea and Iran should be the order of the day. While the foreign policy hawks are beating these military drums, though, there are some vitally important considerations involved in this analysis that must be taken into account before formulating policy decisions, including the impact of Iran's current political leadership and policies on America's survival, security, stability and stature in the international community. To this end, this paper provides an analysis of the impact of the current situation in Iran on these U.S. national interests, followed by a discussion of recent events in Iran that have affected these interests. An application of the various elements of U.S. power to this situation is followed by a summary of the research and salient findings in the conclusion.
             Impact of Current Situation on U.S. National Interests.
             Survival and Security: Iran is a state-sponsor of terrorism and may be developing nuclear weapons. Today, the United States is prosecuting ground wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and may well become involved in other regions around the world in the foreseeable future, as part of its war on terrorism. In this regard, Iran, together with other rogue nations such as North Korea, have been designated state sponsors of terrorism and remain under U.S. economic sanctions a...