Trump's Shameless Path to the Nobel Peace Prize

The Trump administration's so-called maximum pressure campaign against Iran is a failure. It has succeeded only in raising the risk of war in the region and painting the United States into a corner. Iran's leaders were never going to cave to U.S. pressure, in part because Washington was making unreasonable demands, but also because giving into this sort of blackmail would only invite repeated attempts. Instead, Tehran has retaliated by imposing costs on the United States and its local allies, to show that it still has options when its back is to the wall.

Now that the inveterate hawk John Bolton has left the administration, the big question is whether the Trump administration can walk this one back....