Bolton and the Iran Obsession
By Daniel Larison • December 13, 2016, 10:21 AM Scott McConnell likes the Tillerson choice, but is understandably alarmed by reports that Bolton will be nominated as Deputy Secretary of State:
As always, one is reduced to making guesses about the Trumpland personalities whispering in the ear of the president-elect: does Trump feel he needs a rabid hawk to keep the right wing of the GOP in line? Does he simply appreciate Bolton as a TV foreign-policy personality? Does he fully recognize that Bolton, in the key State Department managerial position, would shape the department at its middle levels for years to come, effectively ensuring Trump’s own stated views were marginalized and received no bureaucratic support?
It is possible that appointing Bolton is just a sop to hard-liners and the movement conservatives that wanted him in the top job, but I’d guess that it means more than that. Given the anti-Iranian leanings of virtually all other Trump national security appointees, Bolton would unfortunately fit in only too well with the rest of the team. If nominated and confirmed, Bolton would be pushing for scrapping the nuclear deal. Trump’s recent provocations of China may or may not be influenced by Bolton’s own arguments, but here they also appear to agree with each other that taking a more combative approach is desirable. Russia policy may be the only area where Trump and Bolton genuinely disagree, but we will have to see how real that difference is.
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https://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/bolton-and-the-iran-obsession/
