Recapturing Iran on the Grand Chessboard

Bishop to Queen 4: Recapturing Iran on the Grand Chessboard
Pye Ian
Corporate strategic planning consultant
Posted: May 26, 2009 02:21 PM

One of the potentially more daring and unique foreign policy mandates of the Obama Administration involves a pivotal shift in U.S./Iran relations (or lack thereof). The core reasons for said shift are not limited to America’s political interests in the Middle East. More so, they entail intricate long-term geostrategic considerations vis-à-vis Central and South Asian energy politics.

The biggest open secret in international affairs involves the race for a wider determination of who will prevail in the “New Great Game” for Eurasian energy resources, pipeline access routes and the necessary alliances for solidifying them.* Considering rising global energy stakes, Iran’s oil and gas positioning, as well as how 30 plus years of US sanctions and frozen relations have garnered little for Washington, it is clear that the US needs Iran more than the other way around. In essence, for the US and its closest allies, Iran increasingly appears to be the “queen piece” on the global energy chessboard.

Here is the full article.

Educated in the United States and Great Britain, the writer is a corporate strategic planning consultant with nearly two decades of experience in the media, financial services, public policy and energy sectors. He is also a perpetual student of history and philosophy, and an enthusiast of the board games chess and Go!