Episode Notes:

Yesterday, a week after asserting Iranian preparations for a possible attack on U.S. forces in the region, the U.S. has ordered most State Department personnel out of the embassy in Baghdad and the consulate in Erbil. What is the threat? What are the risks of direct military confrontation?

Suzanne Maloney, Deputy Director of the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution and Senior Fellow in the Brookings Center for Middle East Policy, joins the Warcast to discuss the evolving situation. (~11 minutes)

[ 0:17 ] Introduction
[ 0:57 ] Framework for understanding the situation
[ 5:40 ] Why a strategy of endurance not likely to work for Iran
[ 8:20 ] Probability of direct military conflict and paths to it

Twitter: @MaloneySuzanne